The lawyer representing Stormy Daniels, the porn star suing President Donald Trump over an alleged romantic liaison, said a photo of a DVD he publicly posted “contains evidence of this relationship.” He said it was also meant as “a warning shot” to the president.

During an interview late Friday with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti said he tweeted a photo of a DVD as a way to ensure that Trump and anyone else associated with him would not “spin” facts about his client Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Avenatti’s tweet comes ahead of a blockbuster 60 Minutes interview with Daniels that’s set to broadcast on Sunday on CBS.

“I sent the tweet as a warning shot to Michael Cohen and any other supporter of the president and to the president himself,” Avenatti said. “To the extent that they plan on disparaging my client, lying about what happened, or spinning facts that have no basis in reality after this 60 Minutes interview, let that tweet be a warning to them. It’s time for the nonsense to end. They need to come clean about what happened.”

Avenatti represents Daniels as she proceeds with a lawsuit against the president to dissolve a nondisclosure agreement that prevents her from speaking publicly about the case.


Daniels said the agreement invalid because Trump never signed it. Daniels signed the hush agreement and a side letter agreement days before the 2016 presidential election. The agreement was signed by Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen, who also has admitted to paying $130,000 of his own money to Daniels.

Avenatti similarly told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in another interview that the DVD contains evidence proving Daniels’ claims and warned the president and his backers against engaging in intimidation tactics against his client.

On Matthews’ show, Avenatti said Daniels had received “threats” that were “delivered in person,” suggesting that she would reveal more in detail on the 60 Minutes interview. Avenatti previously claimed Trump’s legal team had engaged in “thuggish behavior, threats, intimidation, and hiding the money trail.”

“When the president’s fixer exerts pressure on you to sign a document, you don’t ask a lot of questions,” Avenatti added. “You do as you’re told. And I think the American people are going to learn from her on Sunday and thereafter of exactly what happened here and our position, Chris, has always been the same. We want the truth and the facts to be known to the American people. Period.”

In recent days, Trump has been mired in scandal over alleged affairs with Daniels and another woman, ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal, who recently claimed she had a secret 10-month-long relationship with the president, and who is also suing Trump. As ThinkProgress editor-in-chief Judd Legum pointed out Friday, her lawsuit alleges that a payment to her from Trump’s personal attorney violated federal election law.


McDougal claims that she too had signed an agreement preventing her from sharing her story, but her revelations have not received as much public attention. On the same day her CNN interview aired, Trump announced he would replace his national security adviser H.R. McMaster with John Bolton, a Bush administration war hawk.