A federal judge denied Stormy Daniels’ request to restart her case against President Trump and his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, Reuters reported.
District Judge James Otero said in an order dated Tuesday that the media attention focused on the case was not a good enough reason to end the 90-day stay he had placed on the case in April, according to Reuters.
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Otero said that the stay would be kept in place because Daniels’s lawsuit against Cohen is taking place at the same time he is the subject of an ongoing criminal probe by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, which could result in him being indicted.
Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is currently suing to nullify a nondisclosure agreement she signed with Cohen in exchange for $130,000 that prevented her from speaking publicly about her alleged affair with President Trump.
“While it is undeniable that plaintiff has a valid interest in the prompt resolution of her claims, plaintiff has not established that she has actually been deterred from speaking,” Otero wrote.
Daniels has openly spoken about her alleged affair, which the White House has repeatedly denied.
Daniels’s attorney said he did not find the ruling “unexpected.”
“The ruling is not unexpected. We intend on appealing to the 9th Circuit [Court of Appeals] as we need to proceed with this case as quickly as possible,” Daniels’s lawyer Michael Avenatti told Reuters.