Stormy Daniels Gets New Judge After Claiming Old One Was Biased [View all]
Source: Bloomberg News
The porn star suing for the right to go public with details of her alleged affair with President Donald Trump got her case transferred to a new judge after claiming she couldnt get a fair trial with the earlier one, court records show.
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, argued in a March 9 filing that her case should be moved from the docket of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Feffer, who is seeking a federal judgeship. Clifford feared that Trumps influence in that process could impact the judges handling of the case, her lawyer Michael Avenatti said.
The case was transferred Tuesday to Judge Howard L. Halm, who like Feffer was appointed by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. Halm set an initial hearing for July 12. Requests to transfer cases to different judges are frequently granted without hearings or arguments after being reviewed by a supervising judge.
Clifford sued on March 6 to nullify a confidentiality agreement she says she struck with Trumps lawyer Michael D. Cohen in October 2016 to keep quiet about the alleged affair in the days before the election. She argues the document is invalid because Trump didnt sign it, even though she took the $130,000 offered in exchange for her silence. Cohen has said he paid for it himself, through a company he set up for the payment.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-14/porn-star-alleging-trump-affair-gets-new-judge-after-bias-claim