Porn star Stormy Daniels and Trump's lawyer who 'paid her off' to meet in court
Lawyers for Mr Trump ask to review documents seized that relate to the president
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Your support makes all the difference.Stormy Daniels, the porn-film actress suing Donald Trump over a “hush agreement”, is today to to come face-to-face in court with his personal lawyer who handed her the $130,000 (£91,000) allegedly to keep quiet about a sexual encounter with the president.
Ms Daniels is due to be attending the hearing in New York today that’s being held as part of a criminal investigation into Michael Cohen's business practices.
"I think Monday afternoon could prove to be very interesting," said her lawyer, Michael Avenatti.
Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, launched her legal battle last month, saying the non-disclosure agreement about an alleged 2006 affair with Mr Trump is void because the president did not sign it.
The payout was made just days before the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence over the encounter. Mr Cohen has acknowledged paying the money, saying it came out of his own pocket.
Mr Cohen has been ordered to appear in a Manhattan federal court as legal teams argue over raids last week on his home, office and hotel room. As the raids were carried out, officials revealed they were investigating his “personal business dealings”.
His lawyers are now trying to hold off prosecutors from reviewing documents, mobile phones and other materials seized.
In addition, lawyers for Mr Trump last night asked to be allowed to review documents that in any way relate to the president.
Mr Cohen has asked the court to give his own lawyers the first look at the seized materials so they can identify documents that are protected by attorney-client privilege.
In the court filing, prosecutors have blacked out a section describing which crime or crimes they believe Mr Cohen may have committed.
Prosecutors say last week's raids came after a "months-long" investigation of possible crimes related largely to Mr Cohen's business dealings, rather than his work as a lawyer.
A source said last week that the information FBI agents were seeking included information about payments to Ms Clifford, and Mr Avenatti told Friday's hearing that he had "every reason to believe" that some documents seized related to her.
Mr Trump has denied knowing about the “hush money” Mr Cohen paid her, and the White House has denied he had an affair with her.
The president's lawyers are also expected to address the New York court. Joanna Hendon told Friday's hearing that Mr Trump had "an acute interest" in the handling of the materials seized from Mr Cohen.
The raids on his rooms were based partly on a referral by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Mr Trump's presidential campaign and Russia. Mr Trump has called Mr Mueller's probe a "witch hunt" and denied any collusion.
A source said on Friday that Mr Cohen also arranged a $1.6m payment to secure the silence of a former Playboy model who said she became pregnant by Elliott Broidy, a top Republican fundraiser.
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