Judge Temporarily Denies Stormy Daniels’ Bid To Depose Donald Trump; Michael Avenatti Takes Victory Lap Anyway

A federal judge in California has denied the motion filed overnight by Stormy Daniels and her attorney Michael Avenatti, temporarily halting their effort to depose President Donald Trump. The judge said the motion was premature and that Trump and the company Cohen had set up to make the $130K NDA payment to Daniels had not had enough time to file

Avenatti took a victory lap anyway, on Twitter, and on TV:

“Turns out that we were a little premature,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “This is just a procedural ruling. It really means nothing….We’re very very encouraged by wording in the order not just suggesting, but basically finding we’re correct in the application of the law and the facts to this matter.”

“This does not bode well for the president or Mr. Cohen,” Avenatti chest-thumped. “All indications are that, when this motion is heard on the merits, we’re going to get the discovery and we’re going to get the trial we’ve asked for.”

The Master-of-Drip-Drip-Drip told Blitzer he plans to refile the motion as soon as Trump and Cohen file paperwork to compell arbitration, “seeking to hide the facts from public view,” Avenatti scolded.

“This is not good for the president; not good for Mr. Cohen,” Daniels crowed of the judge’s decision.

Daniels claims she had an affair with Trump about a decade ago that consisted of one roll in the hay at a golf tournament, followed by months of his dangling a role in a future round of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice to try to get her in bed again. She’s suing to get released from the NDA she signed shortly before the presidential election, for which she accepted $130K. Daniels told her story at length to Anderson Cooper on last Sunday’s 60 Minutes, clocking the longrunning newsmag’s biggest numbers in more than a decade, which means she eclipsed Trump’s appearance on the show shortly after his election.

Given that her big interview has come and gone, every time Daniels and Avenatti can stay in the news cycle, is a great day for them, given the warp-speed at which Trump Chaos pulls TV and print news outlets in new directions.

Here is Avenatti’s tweet: