A federal judge on Thursday denied a request from Stormy Daniels, who says she was paid to remain silent about an affair with President Trump, to expedite a jury trial in her lawsuit against the president.
The request for an expedited jury trial and limited discovery — including a deposition of Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen — was deemed “premature and must be denied” because some questions may wind up being answered by a future petition from Trump and Cohen, wrote Judge S. James Otero of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The ruling is a setback for Daniels’ case. How the high-profile lawsuit will proceed remains unclear.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a lawsuit against Trump earlier this month, asking the court to declare her nondisclosure agreement reached in the final days of the 2016 presidential election invalid because the then-Republican candidate never signed it.
The judge’s denial came a little more than a day after Michael Avenatti, an attorney for Daniels, filed the motion seeking to depose Trump and Cohen in the case. Cohen has said he paid Daniels the $130,000 out of his own funds, while the White House has denied that Trump had an affair with Daniels.
In his filing, Avenatti argued that his side told attorneys for Trump and Cohen last week that they would seek “limited discovery on an expedited basis” in the case that included deposing both Trump and Cohen as well as requesting certain documents.
Cohen has claimed in court filings that he has a right to seek at least $20 million in damages from Daniels for violating the nondisclosure agreement. Court filings made on behalf of Cohen’s limited liability company, Essential Consultants, and Trump also said they intended to push the case back into arbitration, which would be shielded from the public.