Attorney Keith Davidson, the former attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, is suing her for defamation.

Davidson helped negotiate her 2016 $130,000 hush-money deal with President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen.

The lawsuit comes after Daniels sued Davidson on Wednesday.

Davidson also sued Cohen.



Porn star Stormy Daniels's former attorney filed a defamation claim against her and her current counsel, Michael Avenatti — in addition to a separate claim against Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, claiming he illegally recorded their phone calls.

Daniels's former attorney, Keith Davidson, has come under fire from Avenatti and Daniels in recent weeks. He filed the lawsuits on Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles. In the suits, he vehemently rejected Daniels's accusation that he colluded with Cohen and Trump in the negotiation of a 2016 hush-money deal.

A $130,000 payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was facilitated by Cohen just weeks before the 2016 presidential election to keep her quiet about her allegation of a 2006 affair with Trump.

Daniels is suing Cohen and Trump in California, seeking to void that nondisclosure agreement, and last month filed a motion to revive that lawsuit. On Wednesday, she filed a new lawsuit in California court alleging that Davidson had betrayed her and became a "puppet" for Trump and Cohen.

It's the first legal action that Davidson has taken against Daniels, Avenatti, and Cohen. In the suit, Davidson said he only communicated with Cohen at Daniels's own instruction.

"Clifford was clear in her desire that she would say and do whatever necessary in order to prevent" having to return "the $130,000 settlement funds she had received months earlier," Davidson said. "Suffice to say, since Ms. Clifford has begun working with Mr. Avenatti, her goals have transformed."

Davidson accused Daniels and Avenatti of making "countless reckless and false statements" against him. Those statements will harm his "business, professional and personal reputations," he said.

In his lawsuit against Cohen, Davidson claimed that Cohen "surreptitiously and intentionally recorded several telephone calls" between them.

"Davidson never consented to the recordation of any phone calls he had with Cohen as he believe the calls were confidential," the claim said, citing California law making it illegal to record a call without the consent of each party on the call.

Cohen is the focus of a criminal investigation in the Southern District of New York into whether he violated campaign-finance laws or committed bank fraud. In April, the FBI raided Cohen's home, office, and hotel room, and sought records related to the hush-money agreement involving Daniels as well as other women, such as Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also alleged an affair with the president and subsequently alleged that her story was buried by a Trump-friendly media outlet as a result of her arrangement. Davidson represented McDougal as well.

Avenatti told CNN that he thinks Davidson's lawsuit will be thrown out.

"We look forward to having his frivolous claims thrown out of court," he said.