Stormy Daniels lawyer says motion to depose Trump "well supported" by law
Stormy Daniels is seeking to make President Trump answer questions under oath. The adult film star claims she had a one-time sexual encounter with him in 2006 and was paid to keep quiet about it. In a motion filed Wednesday morning, her attorney Michael Avenatti asked a federal judge for permission to depose the president and his private attorney Michael Cohen for a period "of no greater than two hours" about a non-disclosure agreement she signed just 11 days before the 2016 election. The aim of the deposition is to determine if the president had a role in the $130,000 payment from Cohen to Daniels.
Avenatti told "CBS This Morning" Wednesday that the motion relies on U.S. Supreme Court precedent. "It is well founded, it was well thought out, it's incredibly documented," he said. "It's well supported by the law and we're confident in the motion."
Avenatti said he's confident that once they "get to the bottom of this" they will prove that America has been told "a bucket of lies."
"We want to know the truth about what the president knew, when he knew it and what he did about it as it relates to this agreement. We're gonna test the veracity or the truthfulness of Mr. Cohen's, his attorney's, statements," he said.
The court papers reference the case of Bill Clinton v Paula Jones, which went to the Supreme Court. In that case, the majority concluded that the "Constitution does not offer a sitting President significant protections from potentially distracting civil litigation."
"The Supreme Court already decided that a sitting president can be deposed in connection with a civil matter and if that was the law then, it certainly is the law now, it hasn't been overturned," he said.
The motion also references a meeting on March 21 between lawyers on both sides of the case, during which Avenatti says Mr. Trump's lawyer was unable to answer whether Mr. Trump was a party to the agreement.
"We raised this motion with the other side and I think one of the things that was significant during that meeting was we asked Mr. Harder, Mr. Trump's attorney, whether Mr. Trump was a party to this agreement and we heard crickets. They don't know. He said they don't know yet whether Mr. Trump was a party to this agreement. How do you not know whether you're a party to an agreement unless you're just trying to make it up as you go along," he said.
According to Avenatti, a hearing is set for April 30. Asked if he had any trepidation when filing the motion, he replied, "None."
