Stormy Daniels lawyer a ‘PR machine,’ Cohen’s attorney says

An attorney for President Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen says his counterpart in the Stormy Daniels lawsuit is a “PR machine” for his client, the adult-film star who is suing the president to come forward with details of their alleged affair.

David Schwartz, the attorney for Cohen, said Daniels’s lawyer Michael Avenatti has done well publicizing the adult-film star’s allegations in a seemingly nonstop series of cable news interviews, drawing attention to a story Schwartz says is entirely “nonsensical.” 

“I give this guy [Avenatti] credit for one thing … he’s made the best out of this story. This guy is a PR machine. And he’s only in it for himself,” Schwartz told radio host John Catsimatidis on AM 970 New York.

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Avenatti is handling the defamation lawsuit from Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, against Cohen for his hand in offering a $130,000 payment to the actress in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement just 11 days before the 2016 election. 

Schwartz said the payment offered by Cohen to Daniels — which she says was aimed a keeping her quiet about the alleged affair before the election — was “completely legal.” He also accused Avenatti and the media for making “a mountain out of a mole hill.”

Earlier this week, Daniels’s attorney sought to depose both Trump and Cohen in a California court for answers on the payment thought by some legal experts to be in violation of federal campaign law, something Cohen denies.

Daniels, who says the nondisclosure document is invalid since Trump never signed it, appeared in a “60 Minutes” interview last week where she spoke out about the alleged affair for the first time publicly since it garnered widespread attention this year.

Schwartz tarred the long-running CBS program for airing its interview with Daniels, in which she gave graphic details of the affair she said occurred a year after Trump married first lady Melania Trump. 

“It was a complete bunch of nonsense,” Schwartz said. 

While Trump has not personally addressed the controversy, Cohen has maintained that the president denies the affair.

Cohen insisted that he made the payment out of his own pocket and outside the Trump Organization. The White House has said Trump was unaware of the “hush money” payment and has denied Daniels’s allegations.