Trump emerges from the shadows in the Stormy Daniels case and is now seeking $20 million in damages
- President Donald Trump's attorneys claim that Stormy Daniels, the porn star who alleged she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, violated a nondisclosure agreement. They are seeking $20 million in damages.
- The $20 million figure represents the number of times the actress is accused of violating the agreement.
- Daniels' attorney called the move "bullying tactics."
President Donald Trump's attorneys claim that Stormy Daniels, the porn star who says she had an affair with Trump that began in 2006, violated a nondisclosure agreement and is now liable for at least $20 million in damages, The New York Times reported Friday.
The $20 million figure reportedly represents the 20 times Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, violated that agreement, according to The Times.
"Mr. Trump intends to pursue his rights to the fullest extent permitted by the law," one of the filings read.
Trump's court filings come amid a civil suit Clifford filed earlier this month. In the suit, she alleged that a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement between her and Trump is invalid because Trump never signed the form. Clifford has also offered to return the money so she could freely talk about her experience.
The motion marks a rare instance in which Trump is directly involved in the legal proceedings. Trump has tried to keep himself away from the scandal and has left others, such as his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to try and tamp down the fallout.
But, for his part, Cohen has only added fuel to the fire with multiple revelations about his involvement in that $130,000 payment to Clifford. The payment was executed shortly before the 2016 US presidential election.
Michael Avenatti, Clifford's attorney, accused Trump and his legal team of using "bullying tactics."
"The fact that a sitting president is pursuing over $20 million in bogus 'damages' against a private citizen, who is only trying to tell the public what really happened, is truly remarkable - likely unprecedented in our history," Avenatti said to The Times. "We are not going away and we will not be intimidated by these threats."