Federal prosecutors have abruptly cancelled a meeting with Stormy Daniels scheduled for Monday in New York City.
The porn star was due to meet with prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan in preparation for a possible grand jury appearance as a part of their investigation into Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
However the highly anticipated meeting was cancelled Sunday evening after news organizations caught wind of the appointment and officials seemed concerned with the media attention.
Federal prosecutors have suddenly cancelled a meeting with Stormy Daniels set for Monday
She was due to meet with prosecutors in Manhattan in preparation for a possible grand jury appearance in the Michael Cohen probe
Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti took to Twitter to express his outrage after the meeting was cancelled to due concerns over media attention in the case
He sent this email to Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos saying: ‘We believe canceling the meeting because the press has now caught wind of it is ridiculous’
Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti took to Twitter to fume about the sudden cancellation Sunday night.
‘So I was just informed by the US Attys office that they are canceling the mtg tmrw scheduled with me and my client (for weeks) because the press found out about the mtg and they can’t handle a few cameras outside their offices,’ Avenatti tweeted Sunday night.
‘If they consider this a big deal, how will they…ever bring any serious criminal charges against Cohen et al., let alone handle a trial, in such a high profile matter? We have bent over backwards to accommodate them. This is unheard of. We remain willing to cooperate but something isn’t right…’ he added.
‘I was shocked at that response,’ Avenatti said on the cancellation adding it was not rescheduled and a proper explanation was not offered.
He also shared on Twitter his response email expressing outrage and suggesting an alternative meeting in a more private setting – away from the public eye and media attention.
In his email he reiterated that his client Daniels has been cooperating with prosecutors for months.
‘We believe canceling the meeting because the press has now caught wind of it is ridiculous,’ Avenatti wrote in an email to Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos.
‘We do not think it was any secret that at some point you were going to meet with my client,’ he added.
Her lawyer Michael Avenatti expressed outrage on Twitter and requested to reschedule to abruptly cancelled meeting
He fumed on Twitter on Sunday claiming the meeting was cancelled after the press found out
He said: ‘This is unheard of. We remain willing to cooperate but something isn’t right…’
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan had declined to comment on the meeting earlier Sunday night and did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the cancellation.
Daniels claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006 while he was married.
As part of their investigation into Cohen, prosecutors have been examining the $130,000 payment that was made to Daniels as part of a confidentiality agreement days before the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels is suing to invalidate the confidentiality agreement that prevents her from discussing the alleged relationship with Trump. She argues the nondisclosure agreement should be invalidated because Cohen, signed it, but the president did not.
Daniels and Avenatti have also turned over documents in response to a subpoena from federal prosecutors about the $130,000 that Daniels was paid, a person familiar with the matter said to the Associated Press.
The meeting with Daniels would be in preparation for a possibly grand jury appearance. If prosecutors bring the case to a grand jury, they could call witnesses to testify under oath and the grand jury would decide whether to bring criminal charges with a written indictment.
In April thousands of documents were seized from Cohen’s home in an FBI raid that pilfered through his home, office and hotel room seeking records on the NDA concerning Daniels, among other things.