LAWSUIT/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “Michael Avenatti, the lawyer representing Stormy Daniels, filed new paperwork in federal court on Thursday [5-24-18] asking a judge to allow Daniels’ lawsuit against President Donald Trump to move forward — the latest move in Avenatti’s legal campaign to depose the President. Avenatti’s request comes several weeks after a California judge issued a 90-day pause on Daniels’ lawsuit against Trump and his lawyer, Michael Cohen. Daniels is suing the two men, as well as Essential Consultants, Cohen’s shell company, to try to nullify a 2016 hush agreement that sought to prevent her from speaking out about her alleged affair with Trump. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence. Last month, Judge S. James Otero greenlit Cohen’s request to temporarily halt the lawsuit. Cohen had argued that because of an ongoing criminal investigation into his business practices, he intended to assert his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself and therefore wouldn’t be able to fully respond to questions that arose in Daniels’ lawsuit. But in Thursday’s new filing, Avenatti made the case that Daniels’ lawsuit against Trump should still continue, even if the lawsuit remains on hold for Cohen.”
-MJ Lee and Sara Sidner, “Stormy Daniels’ attorney asks for case against President Trump to move forward,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 24, 2018 12:25 pm