On Wednesday morning, Stormy Daniels‘ attorney Michael Avenatti filed a motion in a Los Angeles federal court requesting that Donald Trump be deposed regarding his knowledge about the agreement used to pay his client $130,000 in exchange for her silence just before the 2016 election. Avenatti requested a deposition “of no greater than two hours” from Trump for their lawsuit attempting to prove that the non-disclosure agreement Daniels signed was void. Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen was also requested to be disposed.
The motion was filed in the hopes for an expedited trial, however on Thursday, a federal judge found the request to be premature due to other issues that need to be addressed with the case first. Avenatti tweeted about the development following the judge’s decision, noting that they plan to refile the motion once the other parties in the lawsuit get their ducks in a row.
Here is an order from the Ct denying our motion as premature on procedural grounds. We will refile the motion as soon as DT, MC, and EC, LLC file their motion to compel arbitration seeking to hide the facts from public view. We expect this any day. https://t.co/H85pmKdISK
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 29, 2018
Cohen’s attorney David Schwartz, who had a wild morning before the judge’s ruling, told CBS News that he expects the case to be sent back to arbitration.
Following the decision, Cohen’s attorney David Schwartz told CBS News Radio “He is not surprised at all” about the ruling and said “it was a premature motion.”
He calls it a “sound decision” and expects other decisions made by the judge to be “favorable to Mr. Trump.”
Meanwhile, Cohen is still suing Daniels for $20 million for allegedly violating the confidentiality agreement that Trump may or may not have known about at least 20 times; and Daniels is also suing Cohen in a separate lawsuit for defamation. Just another day in 2018.
(Via CBS News)