Stormy Daniels' lawyer says she was physically threatened

It's one of the most explosive allegations to come out of the Stormy saga so far

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published March 16, 2018 8:37AM (EDT)

Stormy Daniels (Getty/Ethan Miller)
Stormy Daniels (Getty/Ethan Miller)

Stormy Daniels, the porn star who is rumored to have had an affair with Donald Trump before he became president, is now claiming to have been threatened into maintaining her silence.

"Was she threatened in any way?" Mike Brzezinski, a co-host of the MSNBC talk show "Morning Joe," asked Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti on Friday morning.

"Yes," Avenatti replied.

"Was she threatened with physical harm?" Brzezinski asked.

"Yes," Avenatti replied.

At that point Avenatti refused to continue answering questions, including about whether Daniels' life had been threatened and whether she had received any threats directly from Trump himself.

"I can't tell you anything beyond what I've already said," Avenatti insisted. As Joe Scarborough and his co-hosts plied Avenatti with questions, the lawyer reiterated that he and Daniels simply "want both sides to lay out their versions of the facts so the American people can decide for themselves what happened."

Earlier in the interview, Avenatti explained what he meant when he had tweeted that Americans should "buckle up" for what's about to come out regarding the alleged Stormy Daniels affair.

"Well, what I meant by that is, is that we're now going to prepare for full blown litigation," Avenatti told the "Morning Joe" hosts. "And we're going to be measured, aggressive, thoughtful, smart, and we're going to see this to the end. We're not going to be intimidated. We're not going away. We're not packing up and going home. This isn't about a two-week splash. We're in for the long haul. Whether it takes six months, a year, three years or five years."

He added, "We're going to get to the bottom of this and we're going to ensure that the American people learn the truth about what happened here. She's going to tell her story and we are going to get to the bottom of this $130,000 payment."


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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Donald Trump Joe Scarborough Mika Brzezinski Morning Joe Stormy Daniels