President Donald Trump made his first public statements about the Stormy Daniels scandal Thursday, denying he knew anything about the $130,000 his personal lawyer paid the adult film star before the 2016 election.
It’s the latest development in what Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti says is going to be a long game.
“We’re chess players, we’re not playing tic-tac-toe,” he told Cheddar in an interview Thursday. “We’re in it for the long haul.”
Avenatti said his next step will be to file a motion against private arbitration next week.
“We’re very confident that this matter is going to remain in an open court for the people to see the facts. We’re going to file our opposition on Monday,” said Avenatti.
He’s referring to President Trump’s motion from earlier this week to take the case out of the public sphere and into closed proceedings. On top of that, Avenatti wants to depose the president and his lawyer Michael Cohen.
“I’m highly confident that that’s going to be granted,” he said.
If he gets his wish, both Trump and Cohen would have to explain under oath who knew what, and at what point in the timeline of events leading up to now.
Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had a sexual relationship with the now-president in 2006.
Shortly before the 2016 election, Cohen allegedly paid her $130,000 in hush money to keep the affair under wraps and had her sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Last month, Clifford sued Trump to get out of the NDA, claiming it is invalid because the president never signed it.
Her case reached a fever pitch when she sat down with for an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” last month, drawing in the highest ratings for the news show in a decade. She revealed salacious details about her encounter with Trump and that his team threatened her to keep her quiet.
Before the episode aired, Avenatti tweeted out an image of a disc, hinting that it contained damaging information on Trump.
“It was a warning shot to Michael Cohen, and it was a warning shot to the President,” he explained.
“If they tried to come out after the ‘60 Minutes’ piece and claim that my client was lying about the affair, about the relationship etc., there were going to be serious consequences. And you know what? The warning shot worked.”
Avenatti is also currently vetting the claims of [eight other women](https://cheddar.com/videos/whats-next-for-stormy-daniels) who say they have NDAs with Trump over relationships.
“This isn’t politics, it’s about a search for the truth. It’s about the American public’s right to know.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re on the left, on the right, or in the center.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/stormy-daniels-lawyer-on-trump-administration-blunders).
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield is leaving the ice cream brand after 47 years. He says the freedom the company used to have to speak up on social issues has been stifled
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market. The move is the Fed’s first cut since December and lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%. Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, had kept their rate unchanged this year as they evaluated the impact of tariffs, tighter immigration enforcement, and other Trump administration policies on inflation and the economy. The only dissenter was Stephen Miran, the recent Trump-appointee.
After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal.
The Trump administration has issued its first warnings to online services that offer unofficial versions of popular drugs like the blockbuster obesity treatment Wegovy.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
