Michael Avenatti says 'at least' 10 people have offered to pay $1M penalty. Photo / AP
Michael Avenatti says 'at least' 10 people have offered to pay $1M penalty. Photo / AP
"At least" 10 people have volunteered to pay the $1million penalty that Stormy Daniels would incur if she spoke publicly about her alleged affair with President Donald Trump, the porn star's lawyer said on Saturday.
Michael Avenatti, the attorney for the actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told Michael Smerconish of CNN that his client would be covered if she decided to violate a confidentiality agreement.
Daniels filed a civil lawsuit against Trump in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday claiming that the agreement is null and void since the president never signed it, reports Daily Mail.
When asked by Smerconish if anyone "offered to pony up the million dollars to protect her," Avenatti said: "At least 10 individuals in the last three days alone."
Daniels' attorney said that the actress is not seriously considering any of the offers.
According to the terms of the deal signed by Daniels, she would have to pay a $1million penalty if she acknowledged publicly that she slept with Trump.
But Avenatti said that even if Daniels breached the agreement, "no court in California would ever enforce that."
"Why doesn't she come on a program like mine right now and tell whatever the story is that she is dying to tell?" Smerconish asked Avenatti.
Meanwhile, Daniels says the attention generated by reports of her alleged affair with the president has benefited her financially.
She was seen Friday doing a striptease routine at the Solid Gold club in Pompano Beach, Florida.
Daniels became a headline name in January, when The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged a $130,000 payment to the adult film star in order to prevent her from revealing details about their relationship.
Donald Trump with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006. Photo / Supplied
In recent days, the Trump administration has tried to wrestle with legal and ethical questions over the circumstances of the payment, which was made just before the election.
Daniels told CNN that since the Journal story, she has been in greater demand for her services.
"Now, yes, I'm more in demand," Clifford told CNN.
"Like I said in the Rolling Stone interview, if somebody came up to you and said, 'Hey, you know that job that you've been doing forever? How about next week I pay you quadruple,' show me one person who's going to say no."
Daniels, who began her career in show business as a dancer in Louisiana, moved to Los Angeles to make porn films.
She now says she not only acts, but writes and directs movies as well.
On Thursday, a nonprofit watchdog group has asked the Justice Department and the Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether the secret payment to Daniels, which Cohen says came from his own pocket and was made without Trump's knowledge, may have violated federal law because Trump did not list it on his financial disclosure forms.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington lodged the civil and criminal complaint, arguing that the payment may have been a loan from Cohen to Trump and, if so, needed to be disclosed.
Avenatti told CNN on Friday he believed Cohen was lying.
"We have heard explanation upon explanation. They are ever changing. It's nonsense. I'm running out of superlatives. Your legal analysts are running out of superlatives...," Avenatti said on CNN.
"Nonsense, ridiculous, preposterous, ludicrous...the list goes on and on. We are out of words to describe what Mr Cohen is trying to sell to the American public. Anderson, it is impossible, it is so out of the realm of possibility that this attorney undertook all of this work," he added.
He then claimed that it would have been impossible for Cohen to undertake the extensive work of a non-disclosure agreement without the consultation or authorization of Trump.
