An attorney for Michael Cohen levied a threat toward porn star Stormy Daniels Friday afternoon in an interview on the Law&Crime Network. (Cohen is an attorney for Donald Trump and/or his affiliated companies.) Speaking with Law&Crime’s Lis Wiehl, attorney David Schwartz said he wanted to give Daniels something to think about “when the lights are gone and the cameras are off.” WATCH some of what he had to say in the player above.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing in California in an attempt to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement she signed shortly before Trump was elected president. The agreement, which Schwartz characterized as between Daniels and a company called Essential Consultants, LLC, required Daniels not to talk about an alleged sexual affair she carried on with Trump. Daniels had spoken out about the alleged affair years before signing the agreement, through what appears to be her original interview was not published until after the agreement was signed. Since signing the agreement, however, Daniels recorded an interview with 60 Minutes, which is purportedly set to air next weekend.
Schwartz argued Daniels had already breached the contract, then said:
That’s a valid contract. It’s a million dollars per violation, and I can tell you, this is right from Michael Cohen’s mouth, he will not rest. He will make it his life’s mission to collect every single cent from Stormy.
Schwartz continued:
If Stormy’s watching right now, when the lights are gone and the cameras are off, and we all can go on with our lives, just know that this violation is blatant, and this violation . . . there will be justice, because he will go after every single penny. He will not rest until he collects millions of dollars in liquidated damages and punitive damages.
Michael Avenatti, an attorney for Daniels, has been making television rounds discussing the lawsuit he filed on her behalf in an attempt to invalidate the agreement. He said Friday on cable news that Daniels had been threatened with physical harm if she spoke further. Schwartz denied any knowledge of this, and asked Daniels to provide proof
The contract, which Avenatti made public when he filed it as an attachment to the lawsuit, states Daniels was paid $130,000 to keep her mouth shut. If she broke the agreement, she would have to pay a $1 million liquidated damages payment for each and every breach. Avenatti alleges the agreement should be invalid for two reasons: either (1) because Donald Trump never signed it, or (2) because the contract was legally unconscionable — in other words, unreasonably excessive.
Law&Crime has reached out to Avenatti for comment. If we receive a response, we will update this post.