Trump Attorney Wants Stormy Daniels' Lawsuit Dismissed, Calls It ‘Moot’

An attorney for President Donald Trump asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss a lawsuit against the POTUS by adult film star Stormy Daniels, which challenges the validity of a nondisclosure agreement she signed with the former’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen.

Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 as hush money in 2016 ahead of the presidential election to keep quiet over an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006, Daniels wrote in the recently published book “Full Disclosure.”

Charles Harder, Trump’s lawyer, said the lawsuit by Daniels, whose real name was Stephanie Clifford, was “moot” as the president said the agreement was never formed as he had not signed it himself, and has also mentioned he would not try to enforce it, a report said. Harder said her book gave out graphical details about the alleged affair with Trump, thereby violating the agreement already. In September, the company formed by Cohen to facilitate the agreement, which initially said Daniels should pay more than $20 million in damages for talking, said they will not sue to enforce the deal.

"The purported settlement agreement unambiguously prohibits such activities," Trump’s lawyers said in the filing with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, according to a Bloomberg report.

"There is no actual controversy between plaintiff and Mr. Trump," Harder wrote.

Daniels lawyer, Michael Avenatti, stated he was not worried about the dismissal request, adding the case has now evolved into something bigger than a dispute over the validity of a nondisclosure agreement.

“This was anticipated and we are not concerned about it,” he said about the dismissal request.

He said it was in public interest to get more details about the motivation behind the deal and where the money actually came from. Avenatti said Trump and Cohen should admit in the final judgment the hush money did indeed violate campaign finance laws as the agreement intended to influence the presidential elections. Avenatti added he wanted them to pay Daniels’s legal fees and expenses.

He also stated Trump’s lawyers claim about Daniels book was irrelevant.

"We are not concerned about it,” he said.

According to a report in the Hill, the hearing for the dismissal request is set Dec. 3.

The case was separate from a defamation lawsuit filed by Daniels against Trump in the same court over a tweet that called her to claim a man threatening her in 2011 about going public with the alleged affair a “total con job.”

U.S. District Judge James Otero, who was overseeing both the lawsuits, called Trump’s comment a “hyperbole” in a Sept. 24 hearing to dismiss the case. He is yet to make a ruling in the case.

Earlier in August, Cohen pleaded guilty to two campaign finance violations. According to a Reuters report, he said Trump told him to arrange the payments for Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who had alleged she had affair with Trump. The president had denied all charges.