Stormy Daniels filed a defamation suit against the President Donald Trump, accusing him of libeling her by denying her account that a man threatened her in a to get her to keep quiet about her relationship with the president. | Mary Altaffer/AP Photo Stormy Daniels seeks to reactivate 'hush money' suit

Lawyers for porn star Stormy Daniels are seeking to lift a judge's 90-day hold on her lawsuit over a $130,000 deal she struck before the 2016 election to keep silent about a sexual encounter she says she had with President Donald Trump.

A federal judge imposed the stay last month as questions swirled about whether longtime Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels in 2016, was about to be indicted. Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, cited extensive comments about the issue by Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani in saying the stay should be removed.


"The general premise is that Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani have, once again, shot themselves in the foot by making public statements related to the $130,000 payment," Avenatti told POLITICO Thursday. "They clearly don't need Mr. Cohen to mount a defense in the case. There's no need to wait for resolution of the criminal matter...Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Trump don't seem to have a problem defending themselves on 'Hannity', so they can certainly defend themselves in this case."

Lawyers representing Trump and Cohen in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to inquiries about the motion to reactivate the case, but a scheduling filing submitted by Avenatti on Wednesday said the president and his longtime personal attorney indicated that they planned to oppose lifting the stay.

Giuliani called the latest move "an interesting action," but he said on Thursday that he wasn't going out of his way to talk about Daniels.

"I don’t know what she’s talking about, really,” Giuliani told POLITICO. “She has a lawyer going on TV three times a day. I never talk about it. I get asked questions about it and I avoid them."

Giuliani also expressed skepticism that Daniels' suit would get very far, even if the current stay was lifted.

"I think a lawsuit to undo a contract is a pretty tough lawsuit,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you can’t file one. It doesn’t mean you can’t get to first base. It’d be pretty hard to get it much further than that."

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The new motion says Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, wants to proceed with discovery in the case and is willing to avoid a deposition of Cohen for now. The Trump associate has said through his attorneys that, in light of an ongoing FBI investigation that led to raids of his office, home and hotel room in New York, he would assert his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions.

Daniels sued Cohen and Trump in a county court in Los Angeles in March, seeking to void the 2016 deal. The suit also accuses Cohen of defamation over comments related to the episode. Cohen and Trump quickly moved the case to federal court. U.S. District Judge S. James Otero, a George W. Bush appointee, agreed to the 90-day stay last month.

Daniels also filed a separate defamation suit against Trump in New York last month, accusing him of libeling her by denying her account that a man threatened her in a casino parking lot in 2011 to get her to keep quiet about her relationship with Trump.

Otero is expected to hold a hearing June 21 on the issue of lifting the stay.

