President Trump personally directed his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to get a restraining order against porn star Stormy Daniels in February to stop her from publicly speaking about their alleged tryst.
Trump spoke with Cohen after they learned Daniels was weighing a media interview about the alleged encounter, and told him to obtain a restraining order against the porn star through a confidential arbitration proceeding, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Daniels had signed a nondisclosure agreement days before the 2016 election and accepted $130,000 to stay quiet about the alleged relationship with Trump.
The president told Cohen to coordinate a legal response with his son Eric Trump, who is running Trump Organization with his brother, and another outside lawyer who had represented the family’s company. Eric Trump also looped in a Trump Organization staff attorney in California.
Jill Martin, a Trump Organization lawyer, was named as counsel on the arbitration paperwork filed in California on Feb. 22. A restraining order was granted five days later, but Daniels ignored it and publicly discussed the alleged affair.
The Trump Organization’s involvement in the matter is at odds with the company’s denials that it played a role in the arbitration.
Martin gave a statement, approved by Eric Trump and the Trump Organization’s chief legal officer, to the Wall Street Journal that said she was acting “in her individual capacity” and that “the company has had no involvement in the matter” when she had filed the arbitration.
