--- title: Michael Cohen to Plead the Fifth in Stormy Daniels Suit description: President Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, said he will invoke his Fifth Amendment rights in the suit by porn star Stormy Daniels canonical: https://time.com/5255166/trump-michael-cohen-pleading-fifth-amendment-stormy-daniels/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-25T23:42:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:05:32.731Z article:section: Politics og:title: Michael Cohen Plans to Plead the Fifth Amendment in Stormy Daniels Suit og:description: Daniels is suing Cohen and President Trump over a nondisclosure agreement og:url: https://time.com/5255166/trump-michael-cohen-pleading-fifth-amendment-stormy-daniels/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt207b6e01b183c646/69892eb3929fad793abf0610/michael-cohen-fifth-amendment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Trump's Personal Lawyer Michael Cohen Appears For Court Hearing Related To FBI Raid On His Hotel Room And Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michael Cohen Plans to Plead the Fifth Amendment in Stormy Daniels Suit twitter:description: Daniels is suing Cohen and President Trump over a nondisclosure agreement twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt207b6e01b183c646/69892eb3929fad793abf0610/michael-cohen-fifth-amendment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michael Cohen Plans to Plead the Fifth Amendment in Stormy Daniels Suit > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 25, 2018 11:42 PM UTC  President Donald Trump's long-time personal attorney Michael Cohen exits a New York court on April 16, 2018 in New York City. President Donald Trump's long-time personal attorney Michael Cohen exits a New York court on April 16, 2018 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 25, 2018 11:42 PM UTC President Trump’s personal attorney, [Michael Cohen](http://time.com/5237454/donald-trump-relied-on-michael-cohen-to-weather-the-storm/), said Wednesday that he will invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in the suit brought by adult film star Stormy Daniels, who says she was paid to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. Daniels — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — [filed a suit against Trump and Cohen](http://time.com/5189549/stormy-daniels-lawsuit-can-you-sue-president-united-states/) in March, seeking to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement relating to an [alleged affair she had with Trump](http://time.com/5189218/stormy-daniels-porn-star-donald-trump-affair-confirmed/) in 2006\. In the days before the 2016 presidential election, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence about the alleged affair. Trump has denied the affair and [denied knowledge](http://time.com/5230105/donald-trump-stormy-daniels-payout/) of the payment. FBI agents raided Cohen’s office and hotel room in New York City on April 9, seizing documents as part of a criminal investigation into Cohen’s business dealings. “During the corresponding raids, the FBI seized various electronic devices and documents in my possession, which contain information relating to the $130,000 payment to Plaintiff Stephanie Clifford at the center of this case, and my communications with counsel, Brent Blakely, relating to this action,” Cohen said in the filing on Wednesday. “Based upon the advice of counsel, I will assert my 5th amendment rights in connection with all proceedings in this case due to the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.” The Fifth Amendment states that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, called Cohen’s decision to plead the fifth a “stunning development” in the case. > [](https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/989276066857541633) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5255166/trump-michael-cohen-pleading-fifth-amendment-stormy-daniels/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5255166/trump-michael-cohen-pleading-fifth-amendment-stormy-daniels/"},"headline":"Michael Cohen Plans to Plead the Fifth Amendment in Stormy Daniels Suit","datePublished":"2018-04-25T23:42:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:05:32.731Z","description":"Daniels is suing Cohen and President Trump over a nondisclosure agreement","url":"https://time.com/5255166/trump-michael-cohen-pleading-fifth-amendment-stormy-daniels/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","onetime","michael cohen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt207b6e01b183c646/69892eb3929fad793abf0610/michael-cohen-fifth-amendment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt207b6e01b183c646/69892eb3929fad793abf0610/michael-cohen-fifth-amendment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump's Personal Lawyer Michael Cohen Appears For Court Hearing Related To FBI Raid On His Hotel Room And Office","caption":"Trump's Personal Lawyer Michael Cohen Appears For Court Hearing Related To FBI Raid On His Hotel Room And Office","creditText":"Spencer Platt/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5255166/trump-michael-cohen-pleading-fifth-amendment-stormy-daniels/","name":"Michael Cohen Plans to Plead the Fifth Amendment in Stormy Daniels Suit"}}]}] ```