(CNN) A lawyer for Stormy Daniels is asking the Treasury Department to release information filed with the government by a bank about "suspicious" activity surrounding the porn star's hush-money deal with Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime attorney.

Michael Avenatti made the request in a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Monday. A copy of the letter was shared with CNN.

"We believe it is going to undercut the claims of Mr. Cohen relating to the transfer of the money, the flow of the money, and what exactly happened here. But the fact that a (suspicious activity report) was filed in this case is a big deal and it's an indication that the bank sees a problem here," Avenatti told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday.

Avenatti wrote in the letter that the $130,000 payment that Cohen made to Daniels is central to her lawsuit against Trump, Cohen and Essential Consultants -- the company that Cohen established in 2016 to facilitate the transaction. A "suspicious activity report," or SAR, was filed by First Republic Bank -- the bank Cohen allegedly used to make the payment -- to the Treasury Department, the Wall Street Journal reported last month

The details of the $130,000 payment are not only key to Daniels' lawsuit, Avenatti argued, but also of "great public concern" to the country.

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