Prosecutors cancel meeting with Stormy Daniels, her lawyer says
Federal prosecutors in New York canceled a planned meeting with adult film star Stormy Daniels as part of the criminal investigation into President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, her attorney said late Sunday night.
Multiple people familiar with the matter previously told NBC News that Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — was scheduled to meet with the prosecutors Monday in Manhattan. But her attorney, Michael Avenatti, told NBC News that prosecutors from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York told him that they were calling off the meeting, which he said had been scheduled for weeks, because the news media had found out about it and there would be cameras outside.
Avenatti said that he offered to hold the meeting at any other location of prosecutors' choosing but that it hadn't been rescheduled.
"This is unheard of," he said separately on Twitter. "We remain willing to cooperate but something isn't right..."
So I was just informed by the US Attys office that they are canceling the mtg tmrw scheduled with me and my client (for weeks) because the press found out about the mtg and they can’t handle a few cameras outside their offices. If they consider this a big deal, how will they...
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) June 25, 2018
ever bring any serious criminal charges against Cohen et al., let alone handle a trial, in such a high profile matter? We have bent over backwards to accommodate them. This is unheard of. We remain willing to cooperate but something isn’t right...
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) June 25, 2018
Cohen, 51, hasn't been charged with any crimes. The FBI raided his office and hotel room in April and is believed to be seeking information about a $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels as part of a non-disclosure agreement related to an affair she is alleged to have had with Trump.
NBC News reported in Aprilthat Daniels is cooperating with federal investigators.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the meeting, which was first reported by The Washington Post.