Attorney For Porn Star Wants To Depose President Trump On Payment

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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami/AP/CNN) — An attorney for an adult film star claiming a sexual encounter with President Donald Trump filed a motion Wednesday seeking to depose the president and his attorney.

In documents filed in U.S. District Court in California, Michael Avenatti seeks to depose Trump and Trump attorney Michael Cohen about a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election.

Avenatti wants to question each for "no more than two hours." In the filing, he says the depositions are needed to establish if Trump knew about the payment and if he consented to it.

"We're looking for sworn answers from the president and Mr. Cohen about what they knew, when they knew it and what they did about it," Avenatti said. "We are going prove that Mr. Cohen's statements to the American people are false. That at all times Mr. Trump knew about this, knew about the $130,000, was fully aware of it and with the assistance of Mr. Cohen sought to intimidate and put my client under his thumb."

While he noted that "in every case you always have to be open to settlement," Avenatti said that "at this point we don't see how this case would possibly be settled."

Cohen has said he paid the $130,000 out of his own pocket, while asserting Trump never had sex with the porn actress.

"The president strongly, clearly and consistently has denied the underlying claims and the only person who has been inconsistent is the one making the claims," said White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah.

In a statement to CBS, Cohen's attorney David Schwartz called the filing a "reckless use of the legal system in order to continue to inflate Michael Avenatti's deflated ego and keep himself relevant."

A hearing before Judge S. James Otero in the federal court's Central District in Los Angeles is set for April 30.

As precedent, the motion references the fact that former President Bill Clinton was deposed while in office in 1998 during the Paula Jones sexual harassment suit. That came after the Supreme Court ruled that a sitting president was not immune from civil litigation on something that happened before taking office and was unrelated to the office.

Jones' case was dismissed by a judge, then appealed. The appeal was still pending when Clinton agreed to pay $850,000 to Jones to settle the case. He did not admit wrongdoing.

The court filing comes as President Trump remains silent about the alleged affair.

The White House sparring with reporters over that characterization.

"I don't think it's silent when the president has addressed this. We've addressed it extensively. There's just nothing else to add," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. "Sometimes he chooses to specifically engage and punch back, and sometimes he doesn't."

A source close to the White House tells CNN that the current plan is for Mr. Trump to continue avoiding the topic because the controversy hasn't hurt his poll numbers.

Meantime, Avenatti told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday that eight women have now come to him with stories similar to Daniels.

"We're still exploring their stories. We're going to be very careful and deliberate," said Avenatti, who said he understands two of the women also signed confidentiality agreements.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.)