A California lawyer wants a federal bankruptcy judge to seize money donated to porn star Stormy Daniels to help defray costs incurred in her legal dispute with President Trump, according to a report.
Jason Frank on Monday made the request of Judge Catherine Bauer, who sits on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, as part of an effort to be paid the $10 million he won in a case in May against the law firm of Michael Avenatti, Daniels’ lawyer, per court documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Frank sued the firm Eagan Avenatti, claiming it owned him millions of dollars in wages earned when he worked there from 2009 to 2016. But the firm then failed to provide him with the $4.85 million he was promised after it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier in 2018, an amount personally guaranteed by Avenatti as its managing partner, the Times reported.
Frank on Monday asked the judge to order Eagan Avenatti to give him $10 million in legal fees the firm is expected to collect from clients in 54 cases, including that of Daniels.
Avenatti told the Times that Frank’s argument was baseless and that Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is not a client of Eagan Avenatti but Avenatti & Associates. Frank, therefore, has no right to the money raised, he asserted.
A crowdfunding website set up in March to assist Daniels in her lawsuits against Trump raised $577,500 from about 16,600 people as of Wednesday.
Daniels is suing Trump to be released from a nondisclosure arrangement she agreed to days before the 2016 election in which she was paid $130,000 in exchange for her silence regarding an alleged extramarital sexual encounter the pair had more than a decade ago. She is also suing Trump for defaming her reputation as he defended himself against the allegations.
Trump and the White House have denied the extramarital affair.
