A porn actress who says she had an affair with Donald Trump renewed an effort today to get the president to answer her attorney's questions under oath. An attorney for Stormy Daniels filed the motion in federal court in Los Angeles. Michael Avenatti is seeking a jury trial and wants sworn testimony from Trump and his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen about a USD 130,000 payment made to Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election as part of a nondisclosure agreement she is seeking to invalidate.
Trump answered questions about Daniels for the first time last week, saying he had no knowledge of the payment made by Cohen and adding that he didn't know where Cohen had gotten the money. The White House has consistently said Trump denies the affair and Cohen has held that he made the payment out of his own pocket, without involvement from the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign.
Cohen did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment yesterday. Avenatti filed a similar motion over a week ago, which a judge deemed premature. He refiled after Trump asked a federal judge to order private arbitration in the case. Trump and Cohen filed papers last week asking a judge to rule that the case must be heard by an arbitrator instead of a jury. Avenatti opposes private arbitration.
In the filing, Avenatti says he wants to question Trump and Cohen for "no more than two hours." He says the depositions are needed to establish if Trump knew about the settlement agreement and if he "truly did not know about the USD 130,000 payment." He also asks if Trump was involved in any effort to "silence" Daniels. PTI
