A federal judge appeared inclined Tuesday to toss out a lawsuit against President Donald Trump by porn actress Stormy Daniels that sought to tear up a hush-money settlement about their alleged affair.
Trump and his former personal lawyer asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit after agreeing to rescind a nondisclosure agreement that included a $130,000 payment to Daniels.
Judge S. James Otero did not rule in U.S. District Court, but he seemed to agree with lawyers for the president and Michael Cohen that there were no longer grounds for a lawsuit.
Michael Avenatti, attorney for porn actress Stormy Daniels, talks to reporters outside federal court in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. A federal judge appeared inclined to toss out a lawsuit against President Donald Trump by Daniels that seeks to tear up a hush-money settlement about their alleged affair. Avenatti argued the case should continue because he wanted to take sworn statements from Trump and Cohen. He plans to ask for legal fees. (AP PhotoBrian Melley)
"It seems you've achieved ... what you sought to achieve," Otero said to Daniels' attorney.
If Otero does throw out the case, it would give both sides a chance to claim victory.
The case would allow Daniels to speak without threat of legal consequences, but it would also prevent further litigation she has sought to force the president and Cohen to give sworn testimony.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, brought the lawsuit to free herself from the agreement that silenced her as the 2016 presidential campaign reached its conclusion.
Cohen had arranged the payment and later pleaded guilty to campaign violations after admitting the deal was struck to help Trump prevail in the presidential contest.
Trump has denied the alleged 2006 affair.
Daniels had claimed the agreement was not valid because Trump's signature was not on it and the president's lawyer has said he was never party to the settlement.
Despite appearing to get what Daniels originally sought — dismissal of the agreement she disregarded long ago in speaking to news media and writing a book — her lawyer fought hard to keep the case alive.
Attorney Michael Avenatti, who once toyed with making a presidential run to take on Trump, wanted the case to continue so he could force Trump and Cohen to give depositions.
But the judge wasn't buying Avenatti's legal reasoning for keeping litigation going when there was no longer an issue in dispute.
Otero repeatedly asked Avenatti to cite case law to support his arguments. But after he named several cases, Otero told him he was "mixing apples and oranges."
"I think we see the issues very differently," the judge said.
During those exchanges, Trump's attorney, Charles Harder, had a smirk that appeared to keep growing.
Still, Avenatti declared his client the winner after Tuesday's hearing.
"They admitted what we said all along," Avenatti said. "So any attempt by anyone to claim that this is not a victory for Stormy Daniels is completely bogus and nonsense and dishonest."
Essential Consultants, the company Cohen set up to handle the deal, had once sought to fight Daniels in arbitration for violating the nondisclosure agreement by speaking in public about the affair. Cohen had even threatened a $20 million lawsuit against her.
Cohen didn't follow through with those legal actions after seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, but he had said he would seek repayment of the $130,000.
Cohen's lawyer, Brent Blakely, said Tuesday he wouldn't seek repayment of that money.
Avenatti said he would seek legal fees regardless of how Otero rules on dismissal of the case.
Last month, Otero ordered Daniels to pay Trump $293,000 in attorney's fees after dismissing a defamation lawsuit she brought against him.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.
The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.
“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.
Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.
The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.
“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.
The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.
They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.
Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.
Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.
Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”
In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”
The Chahine family prepares to bury two adults and five boys and girls under the age of 16 after an overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 3, 2024. An Israeli strike on the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip killed several people, including children, hospital officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
FILE - Palestinians line up for free food during the ongoing Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Jan. 9, 2024. A top U.N. official said Friday, May 3, 2024, that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine" after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)
Palestinians rescue a woman survived after the Israeli bombardment on a residential building of Abu Alenan family in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House as he talks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington, after returning from a trip to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
