The lawyer representing the adult film star Stormy Daniels is considering adding to his caseload: Michael Avenatti said Thursday he would likely file a defamation suit against President Trump for accusing Daniels of a "total con job."
"It's an outrage that he can't control himself," Avenatti said in an interview on Cheddar. "And it's an outrage that he's now lying to the American people about my client."
On Wednesday night, Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986547093610299392) that Daniels was "playing the Fake News Media for Fools," by releasing a sketch of the man she said threatened her in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011.
The defamation case, should Avenatti choose to file it against the president, would be in addition to the suit he said he already filed against Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Cohen is the one who negotiated a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels to bar her from talking about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006.
Avenatti is suing to lift the non-disclosure agreement his client signed in 2016, and he will fight a motion in court on Friday that would delay his client's suit.
Cohen attracted the interest of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, who is looking into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. And the FBI raided Cohen's office and hotel room. The acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York said the raid was intended to gather evidence of alleged crimes concerning Cohen's business transactions.
"I think the likelihood of him being indicted is very, very high. Extremely high. Close to 100 percent," said Avenatti, without offering any evidence to support his certainty. "I think when that happens he will roll on the president."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/michael-avenatti-cohen-will-roll-on-the-president).
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
Rep. John Moolenaar has requested an urgent briefing from the White House after Trump supported a deal giving Americans a majority stake in TikTok.
A new report finds the Department of Government Efficiency’s remaking of the federal workforce has battered the Washington job market and put more households in the metropolitan area in financial distress.
A new poll finds U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think immigrants in the country legally benefit the economy. That comes as President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions targeting legal pathways into the country. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to the economy and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans still see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally.
Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue are bouncing back sharply before the opening bell a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism. Trump told pregnant women not to use the painkiller around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday. The drugmaker tumbled 7.5%. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.
