Shortly before the 2016 election, Davidson negotiated a confidentiality agreement with Cohen under which porn star Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000.
Davidson also represented Karen McDougal, a Playboy centerfold, in the $150,000 agreement she struck in August 2016 with the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., for the rights to her story. AMI never published the story.
Both Daniels and McDougal have filed lawsuits to get out of their non-disclosure agreements. Earlier this week, McDougal settled with AMI — whose chief executive, David Pecker, is a friend of Trump — and is no longer bound by her contract with the tabloid publisher.
FBI agents raided Cohen’s Manhattan office last week, as well as his home and a hotel room. According to people with knowledge of the case, he is under federal investigation for bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations. The inquiry includes payments to women whose stories about Trump could have damaged his presidential campaign.
Stephen Ryan, an attorney for Cohen, has called the raid “inappropriate and unnecessary,” saying Cohen has “cooperated completely with all government entities.” Trump called the raid a “disgraceful situation” and an “attack on our country.”
According to CNN, the records seized from Cohen included tapes that he recorded of conversations with Davidson. Wedge said that the lawyer never consented to any recordings of his conversations with Cohen and that if such tapes exist, “Davidson will pursue all his legal rights under the law.”
Davidson has hired Miami attorney Michael D. Padula, who specializes in white-collar crime.