Washington: US President Donald Trump has sought to move past a lawsuit from pornstar Stormy Daniels, stating in a court filing that he would not seek to enforce a 2016 settlement agreement between Daniels and Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen.
The so-called hush agreement, forged between Daniels and Cohen on behalf of his shell company Essential Consultants in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election, included a $130,000 payment to the actress in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump, CNN reported.
Earlier this year, Daniels sued Trump, saying the secret agreement should be void since the President himself never signed it.
Trump on Saturday made clear that Daniels was right, he was never a party to the deal.
His attorney, Charles Harder, said in Saturday’s court filing that Trump would not contest Daniels’ “assertion that the Settlement Agreement was never formed, or in the alternative, should be rescinded”.
Harder ended his letter by calling for Daniels to “immediately dismiss” Trump from her lawsuit, and he requested a meeting with her attorney Michael Avenatti if she would not agree to dismiss the President voluntarily.
Trump’s move followed a separate filing from Cohen on Friday.
In it, Cohen agreed to tear up the original 2016 agreement with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Trump has denied the alleged affair.
“These shenanigans by Cohen and Trump are going nowhere,” Avenatti told CNN on Saturday.
“They are desperate.”
