Stormy Daniels has filed a new lawsuit against President Donald Trump over one of his recent tweets, which the adult film star says was “false and defamatory.”
On April 18, Trump tweeted dismissively about a forensic sketch of a man who Daniels says threatened her in 2011. The president called it “a total con job.”
In the defamation suit, filed in a Manhattan federal court on Monday, Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, alleged that Trump “used his national and international audience of millions of people to make a false factual statement to denigrate and attack” her.
Trump’s tweet exposed Daniels to “contempt, ridicule... and physical threats of violence,” the complaint says.
Daniels, who is also suing the president over a nondisclosure agreement she signed related to their alleged affair, is seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
Michael Avenatti, Daniels’ attorney, accused the president Monday of being complicit in the 2011 incident when a man allegedly threatened Daniels and warned her to keep silent about her alleged affair with Trump.
“We fully intend on bringing it to light,” Avenatti wrote on Twitter.
Earlier this month, Daniels released a forensic sketch of the man she said threatened her. The man allegedly approached her and her infant daughter in a parking lot and told her to “leave Trump alone.” Daniels said she was deeply “rattled” by the encounter.
Last week, a federal judge put Daniels’ earlier suit against Trump on hold for 90 days because Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen is under criminal investigation related to a $130,000 hush payment he made to Daniels.
Trump has repeatedly denied that he had an affair with the adult film actress. He admitted in a Fox News interview last week, however, that Cohen had represented him “with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal.”
This story has been updated.