BuzzFeed has sent out letters seeking the preservation of a number of documents pertaining to Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, including President Trump’s communications about adult film star Stormy Daniels.
In the letters sent to Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, and White House lawyer Ty Cobb, BuzzFeed demanded preservation of documents related to Cohen’s work with the Trump campaign, communications between Trump and Cohen, communications about adult film star Karen McDougal or Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, and every document they have given to special counsel Robert Mueller.
BuzzFeed’s lawyer Kate Bolger told MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Thursday that although the range of documents they’re requesting is broad, they could be key to winning the libel lawsuit Cohen slapped on the news outlet in January over its publication of the so-called “Trump dossier.” “The more evidence we have, the better arguments we have that this was either privileged information … or a document that we had every right to publish,” Bolger said.
The latest twist in the libel lawsuit matter could mean that certain documents, such as the nondisclosure agreement Cohen made with Clifford in which $130,000 was given to Clifford in exchange for her silence on an affair she allegedly had with Trump, could be produced. Legal experts told Politico that if Clifford’s testimony is formally requested in a deposition, the agreement could very well turn up.
In response to BuzzFeed’s letter, Cobb told MSNBC, “I believe this is the first time I’m seeing this letter, I’ll review it and make sure the White House does the right things.”
In January 2017, BuzzFeed published the dossier, containing a number of salacious and unverified claims about Trump’s ties to Russia. The dossier, compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, claims that Cohen arranged payments to Russians who stole emails from the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. Cohen denied the allegations and, in January, sued BuzzFeed for libel.
