Donald Trump’s lawyers are reportedly preparing a legal action to block Stormy Daniels’ silence-breaking interview with ’60 Minutes’ from airing next Sunday.
On Thursday anticipation was raised for Daniels’ tell-all interview, as announced by her lawyer Michael Avenatti on Twitter.
However Trump’s lawyers are supposedly filing a legal injunction to prevent the interview from airing in an effort to enforce Daniels’ nondisclosure agreement.
TICK TOCK: Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted out an image of his client flanked by himself and Anderson Cooper
In this Feb. 11, 2007 file photo, Stormy Daniels arrives for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles
CNN’s Anderson Cooper also reports for 60 Minutes under his contract
‘We understand from well-placed sources they are preparing to file for a legal injunction to prevent it from airing,’ BuzzFeed News reported on Saturday from a source informed of the preparations.
The injunction may seek to silence Daniels in agreement with the nondisclosure agreement she signed in regards to her alleged affair with Trump and in which she accepted a $130,000 payment from Trump’s right-hand lawyer Michael Cohen.
However Daniels is arguing that the NDA is void as Trump never signed it.
Daniels sat down for an interview with the CBS storied investigative program – famous for its deep-digging pieces – last week, in which she may detail the intimate relationship she claims to have shared with the president.
When the news outlet reached Trump’s famous right-hand attorney Michael Cohen for comment, he referred the questions to his own attorney who did not confirm the legal action reports.
When asked about her response to Trump’s threat of legal action to cancel the interview, Daniels said ‘All I can say is it was never going to air tonight and I guess we will see what happens’ to the Washington Post on Sunday.
On Thursday Avenatti took to Twitter to announce the Daniels interview with Anderson Cooper.
The tweet included four Twitter account addresses: @mavenatti, @StormyDaniels, @andersoncooper, and @60Minutes.
The news follows Cohen’s announcement that he himself paid Daniels $130,000 as a part of a nondisclosure agreement, and claims that the transaction had nothing to do with Trump or his organization.
However the transaction is shrouded in scandal as the payment was linked to his Trump e-mail account.
MUST-SEE TV: The interview is expected to appear in the coming weeks, but not this Sunday
Donald Trump and porn Stormy Daniels aka Stephanie Clifford pose together in 2006; the White House says he already won a case in arbitration against her and that he’s denied the accusations of an affair
Daniels told CNN that she has been in greater demand for her services. ‘Now, yes, I’m more in demand,’ she said. She is seen above doing a striptease in Pompano Beach, Florida on Friday
Porn actress Stormy Daniels’ lawyer confirmed Wednesday that ‘yes,’ his client had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump a decade ago
Cohen also obtained a temporary restraining order against Daniels last week in an effort to prevent her from divulging information on her alleged affair with Trump.
Daniels – whose real name is Stephanie Clifford – claimed she had an ‘intimate’ relationship with Trump from 2006 to 2007 that began shortly after Melania gave birth to their only son Barron.
It was not immediately known how the interview might intersect with a gag order ordered by an arbitrator.
It was revealed this week that Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, obtained a secret restraining order in a private arbitration proceeding barring Daniels from disclosing ‘confidential information’ related to a nondisclosure agreement she signed in October 2016.
Her lawyer, Avenatti, revealed the text of the NDA when he filed a lawsuit in California arguing that the agreement was no longer operative because Trump never signed it and because, he argued, Cohen violated it by confirming its existence.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders brought up the arbitration at a press briefing Wednesday.
‘I can share you that the arbitration was won in the president’s favor and I would refer you to the president’s outside counsel on any details beyond that,’ the press secretary said.
Asked whether Trump knew about the $130,000 to Daniels by his lawyer, Sanders responded: ‘Not that I’m aware of.’
That line prompted the question of whether the press secretary had directly asked the president if he knew about the payment.
‘Yeah, I’ve had conversations with the president about this,’ she replied, before giving the more direct answer that Trump had ‘no knowledge’ of the monetary exchange.
President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen (pictured) obtained a secret restraining order in a private arbitration proceeding barring porn star Stormy Daniels from disclosing ‘confidential information’
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that President Trump had won in arbitration against Stormy Daniels – which her lawyer denies – and that he’s denied having an affair with the porn star and had ‘no knowledge’ she was being paid off
Michael Avenatti said on the ‘Today’ show what his client had been coy about for months
Avenatti has argued that the NDA should be considered ‘null and void,’ and has blasted Cohen for ‘threats’ and intimidation of his client.
After Sanders made the statement that Trump had ‘won’ in arbitration, Avenatti shot back: ‘Yeah, and he won the popular vote.’
He told NBC: ‘President Trump hasn’t won anything relating to Ms. Clifford.’
‘First of all, it does not appear as if he was even a party to the arbitration Ms. Sanders was referring to. How can you win something you’re not even a part of?’ the lawyer asked. ‘Secondly, claiming that Mr. Trump “won” at arbitration when there has been no hearing, no notice to Ms. Clifford, no opportunity given to her to respond, and no decision on the merits, is completely bogus.’
During a Wednesday interview with NBC’s ‘Today’ Show, Avenatti confirmed that his client had a sexual relationship with the president years ago.
‘Yes,’ Avenatti said when asked the question point-blank.