Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels, contacted a lawyer for President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen and proposed a meeting to evaluate a potential settlement, a new report says.
According to Cohen’s lawyer Brent Blakely, Avenatti reached out to Blakely and requested that they meet this week in New York to talk about a possible settlement, CNN reports.
[Related: Michael Avenatti offers to represent Michael Cohen]
Daniels has been embroiled in a legal battle with Trump over an alleged extramarital affair. Cohen paid her $130,000 in exchange for her silence on the affair, but she filed a lawsuit earlier this year claiming the nondisclosure agreement she signed should be nullified because Trump didn’t sign it.
It was previously reported that Cohen and Avenatti ran into each other in Manhattan and Avenatti offered to work together and hash out an agreement, although CNN reports that Avenatti claims that description is a “complete fabrication.”
Blakely contacted Avenatti following the interaction, which prompted the men to arrange a meeting.
“Upon learning of Mr. Avenatti’s discussion with Mr. Cohen last week, I called Mr. Avenatti and asked that he direct any future communications regarding the Clifford litigation to my office, and not to my client. Mr. Avenatti agreed to do this and then requested that we have an in-person meeting in New York to discuss settlement,” Blakely said, per CNN.
“Our discussions were cordial and professional, and we agreed that it would be a good idea to discuss the possible resolution of the dispute,” he added. “While we did take steps to schedule a meeting, it never occurred.”
[Alan Dershowitz: Michael Cohen could be in trouble over leaked Trump tape]
Blakely also said that he is “always open to discussing settlement.”
But Avenatti claimed that Blakely’s characterization was “not entirely accurate.”
“Brent Blakely is dishonest,” Avenatti said, according to CNN. “I’m not going to get into the details of all of the lies told by Michael Cohen and his lawyers.”
Blakely said he pulled the plug on the meeting because of Avenatti’s comments on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, where Avenatti predicted that Cohen would “tell the truth” and hinted that Cohen may “cooperate” with him.
“I think he’s going to tell the truth, and ultimately I think he’s going to cooperate with us as it relates to our search for the truth,” Avenatti said.
But Blakely denied that he and Cohen were interested in “cooperating.”
“Neither myself or Mr. Cohen have provided any information to Mr. Avenatti, are in any way cooperating with Mr. Avenatti, or have any interest whatsoever in cooperating with Mr. Avenatti to the detriment of President Donald Trump,” Blakely said. “Mr. Cohen’s legal matters will not be tried in the court of public opinion, but in a court of law.”
