Stormy Daniels says she’s ‘vindicated’ by Cohen guilty plea

Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels said Tuesday she’s “vindicated” by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and admission that he paid her at the direction of a “candidate for federal office,” a reference to President Trump.

Daniels told NBC News in a statement that she and her attorney, Michael Avenatti, “look forward to the apologies from the people who claimed we were wrong.”

Avenatti appeared on MSNBC on Tuesday shortly after Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges in Manhattan, including one count of making an excessive campaign contribution on Oct. 27, 2016.

That is the same date Cohen finalized a payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, as part of a nondisclosure agreement over an affair Daniels says she had with Trump.

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Cohen said he did so at the direction of “the candidate.” He did not mention Trump by name.

Avenatti credited Daniels’s willingness to speak out for Cohen’s eventual guilty plea and argued that Cohen’s admission will increase the chances he can depose Trump in Daniels’s civil lawsuit against the president and Cohen.

Daniels has sued both men to void the nondisclosure agreement she signed that was aimed at keeping her quiet about an affair she says she had with Trump in 2006.

“I think a lot of this stems from her courage and what she was willing to come forward and do,” Avenatti said Tuesday.

Asked if Cohen’s plea agreement implicates Trump, Avenatti said he believes it does.

“That is a significant problem for the president and he’s got a lot of explaining to do,” he said. 

WATCH: Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels, responds to Michael Cohen pleading guilty to multiple counts today. pic.twitter.com/ReUMINUejb

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 21, 2018