Michael Cohen seeking restraining order against Michael Avenatti

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Reports: Michael Cohen to split from his legal team

President Trump's longtime personal attorney is allegedly changing lawyers after a deadline this week on which FBI documents seized fall under attorney-client privilege; Rick Leventhal reports.

President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen asked a federal judge on Thursday to prohibit Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, from speaking to the press about the porn star’s lawsuit.

Brent Blakely, an attorney for Cohen, argues in court documents filed in Los Angeles that Avenatti has tainted the case with a “publicity tour” that included over 100 television interviews in the last three months and that he’s “mainly driven by his seemingly unquenchable thirst for publicity.”

The attorney claims Avenatti’s behavior and statements about Cohen are unethical and threatens Cohen’s ability to have a fair trial as it’s turning the case into a “media circus.”

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Blakely urges the judge to sign a restraining order that would bar Avenatti from speaking with reporters or publicly releasing details about the case concerning Cohen. “Malicious attacks on Mr. Cohen must be stopped in its tracks,” argues Cohen’s lawyer.

Avenatti went to social media to decry the attempt to take away his spotlight, tweeting: “We just learned that Mr. Cohen and his atty, Brent Blakely, are going to file a motion seeking to have the court issue a gag order preventing me & others from providing info & docs to the media and the public. They want it all hidden. Is this ok? Will the media permit it?”

“The motion for a gag order is a complete joke and baseless. Mr. Cohen and Brent Blakely can’t deal with the truth, the facts, and the law, so they have to resort to unethical, meritless motions. This must be their birthday present to Mr. Trump,” he added.

Avenatti, the ubiquitous attorney who has become a frequent prime time guest across most networks, represents the porn queen who claims she had a 2006 fling with President Trump

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Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing Trump and Cohen and seeks to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement that she signed before the 2016 presidential election. She argues that the agreement is invalid because Trump didn’t actually sign it.

Cohen was granted a 90-days delay of the case by a federal judge in April amid his other problems, including the FBI raid of his home and office. The agents reportedly were seeking records about the nondisclosure agreement that the porn star had signed and other information.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.