Trumps (alleged) ex filed a civil claim against the President.
Trump's (alleged) ex filed a civil claim against the President. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Stormy Daniels may be going to court. On Tuesday, the adult film star who claims that she had an affair with Donald Trump and was subsequently paid $130,000 in hush money, filed a civil suit against the President. Daniels (née Stephanie Clifford) argues that nondisclosure agreement she signed to keep quiet about the alleged affair is invalid. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, shared the claim on Twitter, which was filed against both Trump and his alias, “David Dennison," maybe because "David Duke" was already taken.


In addition to representing Daniels, Avenatti is the former owner of Tully's Coffee, which is apparently still in business and which Avenatti bought in bankruptcy court in 2013 with Patrick Dempsey, aka McDreamy.

The Seattle Times reports:

Avenatti, based in Los Angeles, made his name in class-action lawsuits and litigation against professional firms. Locally, he was engaged to sue the Moss Adams accounting firm over several audits of funds raised by infamous Ponzi scheme perpetrator Frederick Darren Berg, whose Meridian Mortgage cost investors more than $100 million.

But his coffee-shop sideline, Global Baristas, has not gone well. In January, Keurig Green Mountain, which years earlier bought the U.S. rights to the Tully’s brand, sued Global Baristas, claiming it has not paid licensing fees and revoking its permission to use the name Tully’s.

Avenatti fired back, claiming Keurig hadn’t held up its side of the contract.

Avenatti previously also found himself on the outs with actor Patrick Dempsey, originally a partner in Global Baristas, who later sued and left the enterprise, saying Avenatti hadn’t funded the deal as promised.

Let's hope he's a better lawyer than he is a business owner.

NOTE: This post has been updated. A previous version incorrectly asserted that Avenatti currently owns Tully's. However, according to a Tully's representative, while Avenatti currently serves as general counsel for the company, but divested his interest in the brand nearly a year ago. We apologize for the error. The author has been sentenced to drink Tully's for a week.