Stormy Daniels’s former attorney files defamation suit against her

Stormy Daniels’s former lawyer Keith Davidson is suing the adult-film star and her current lawyer Michael Avenatti for alleged defamation, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Davidson also filed a separate claim against President Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, accusing him of recording their phone calls without his permission.

The lawsuit against Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, and Avenatti comes in response to another claim filed by the adult-film actress on Wednesday, accusing Davidson of colluding with Cohen to protect Trump, with whom Daniels alleges she had an affair in 2006.

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Davidson’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, specifically refers to a tweet published on Wednesday by Avenatti accusing him of “unethical conduct.”

“Stephanie Clifford’s current attorney Michael Avenatti has been on a crusade to falsely vilify Davidson while using Clifford’s Attorney Client Privilege with Davidson as both a sword and a shield,” the lawsuit reads, using Daniels legal name.

Davidson was Daniels’s attorney in 2016 when Cohen reached a deal to pay her $130,000 in exchange for her silence over her alleged affair with Trump.

The president and Cohen have denied the affair, and have argued that the payment was made only to protect the real estate mogul and his family.

Daniels and Avenatti, however, have accused Davidson of working with Cohen — against the interests of his own client — to protect Trump from scrutiny. Davidson said in his lawsuit that he only ever sought to help Daniels.

In his separate suit against Cohen, Davidson accused the longtime Trump associate of recording phone calls as they sought to negotiate Daniels’s nondisclosure agreement. It is illegal in California to record a phone call unless both parties consent. Davidson alleges that he was never told that Cohen was recording.

Davidson did not say why he believes Cohen recorded the phone calls.

The FBI seized troves of documents and other records from Cohen’s home and office in April, as part of a months-long investigation into the lawyer, frequently referred to as Trump’s “fixer.”