The following article by Melanie Schmitz was posted on the ThinkProgress website April 10, 2018:
Cohen says not to take him literally or seriously.
A longtime lawyer for President Trump argued in a new court filing this week that he was simply being “hyperbolic” when he suggested adult film actress Stormy Daniels was lying about an affair she claimed to have had with President Trump.
Michael D. Cohen, who has worked with the Trump Organization for close to a decade, is currently being sued by Daniels for defamation. Daniels claims she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, one year after Trump’s marriage to his third wife, Melania. Daniels said that she was initially pressured not to go public with her story in 2011, and in 2016, after attempting to speak out about the affair once more, was contacted by Cohen and paid $130,000 to stay silent — weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claimed that the money was part of a non-disclosure agreement she entered into with Cohen, who signed on behalf of the shell company. Trump, however, did not sign the document.
In February, responding to reports of the payment, Cohen insisted that he had only paid Daniels the $130,000 to prevent her from smearing Trump’s image in the days leading up to the election.
“Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you hurt or damage,” Cohen said at the time. “I will always protect Mr. Trump.”