Case 2:18-cv-02217-SJO-FFM Document 20-2 Filed 04/02/18 Page 1 of 4 Page ID #:252 1 BLAKELY LAW GROUP BRENT H. BLAKELY (CA Bar No. 157292) 1334 Parkview Avenue, Suite 280 3 Manhattan Beach, California 90266 Telephone: (310) 546-7400 4 Facsimile: (310) 546-7401 5 Email: BBlakely@BlakelyLawGroup.com 2 6 Attorneys for Defendant 7 ESSENTIAL CONSULTANTS, LLC 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 STEPHANIE CLIFFORD a.k.a. 12 STORMY DANIELS a.k.a. PEGGY PETERSON, an individual, 13 Plaintiff, 14 15 v. Case No. 2:18-CV-02217-SJO-FFM DECLARATION OF BRENT H. BLAKELY IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO COMPEL ARBITRATION 16 Assigned for All Purposes to the Hon. S. James Otero 20 Date: April 30, 2018 Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: 350 West 1st Street Courtroom 10C, 10th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90012 DONALD J. TRUMP a.k.a. DAVID 17 DENNISON, an individual, 18 ESSENTIAL CONSULTANTS, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, 19 and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, 21 Defendants. Action Filed: March 6, 2018 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 DECLARATION OF BRENT H. BLAKELY Case 2:18-cv-02217-SJO-FFM Document 20-2 Filed 04/02/18 Page 2 of 4 Page ID #:253 1 2 3 DECLARATION OF BRENT H. BLAKELY I, Brent H. Blakely, declare: 1. I am an attorney duly licensed to practice before all courts of the State of 4 California and in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, among 5 other courts. I make this declaration based on my own personal knowledge and, if 6 called and sworn as a witness, I could and would competently testify hereto. 7 2. I am a partner of the law firm of Blakely Law Group, counsel of record 8 for Defendant Essential Consultants, LLC (“EC”). 9 3. Attached hereto as Exhibit B is a true and correct copy of the Complaint, 10 without exhibits, filed by Plaintiff Stephanie Clifford a.k.a. Stormy Daniels a.k.a. 11 Peggy Peterson (“Clifford”) in Los Angeles Superior Court, Case Number BC696568, 12 on March 6, 2018. EC removed the Complaint to this court on March 16, 2018. The 13 exhibits to the Complaint are contained in Dkt. No. 1, Exhibit 1. 14 4. Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of the First 15 Amended Complaint (“FAC”), without exhibits, filed by Clifford on March 26, 2018. 16 The exhibits to the FAC are contained in Dkt. No. 14. 17 5. Attached hereto as Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of the article 18 entitled, “EXCLUSIVE: How Stormy Daniels tried to sell story about her one-night19 stand with Donald Trump for $200,000 THREE weeks before the election but worked 20 out a deal with Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen after she got no takers,” which was 21 published by the Daily Mail on or about March 29, 2018, at the following URL: 22 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5554437/Stormy-Daniels-tried-sell-story23 sex-Trump-200-000-weeks-election.html. 24 6. Attached hereto as Exhibit F is a true and correct copy of the article 25 entitled, “Stormy Daniels says Trump scandal has been good for business,” which 26 was published by CNN on or about March 11, 2018, at the following URL: 27 https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/10/ politics/stormy-daniels-interview/index.html. 28 -2DECLARATION OF BRENT H. BLAKELY Case 2:18-cv-02217-SJO-FFM Document 20-2 Filed 04/02/18 Page 3 of 4 Page ID #:254 1 7. Attached hereto as Exhibit G is a true and correct copy of the article 2 entitled, “One Night with Stormy Daniels, the Hero America Needs,” which was 3 published by Rolling Stone on or about March 9, 2018, at the following URL: 4 https://www.rollingstone.com/ culture/features/one-night-with-stormy-daniels-the5 hero-america-needs-w517692. 6 8. On March 21, 2018, I met with counsel for Clifford, Ahmed Ibrahim, in 7 person at my offices to discuss the instant Motion to Compel Arbitration (“Motion”). 8 Charles J. Harder, counsel for Defendant Donald J. Trump, was also present in 9 person. Michael Avenatti, also counsel for Clifford, participated by telephone. 10 During the conference, we discussed our respective positions regarding the Motion, 11 along with the authorities upon which we rely, and I specifically informed counsel for 12 Clifford that, pursuant to Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna, 546 U.S. 440, 13 444 (2006), Clifford’s defenses to the enforcement of the Settlement Agreement as a 14 whole must be decided by the arbitrator, not the Court. In response, counsel for 15 Clifford cited the following cases: Sanford v. MemberWorks, Inc., 483 F.3d 956, 964 16 (9th Cir. 2007), Three Valleys Mun. Water Dist. v. E.F. Hutton & Co., 925 F.2d 1136, 17 1144 (9th Cir. 1991), Goldman, Sachs & Co. v. City of Reno, 747 F.3d 733, 741, 747 18 (9th Cir. 2014) and Granite Rock Co. v. Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters, 561 U.S. 287, 30319 304 (2010). For the reasons set forth in EC’s accompanying memorandum of points 20 and authorities, these cases are highly distinguishable from this case. 21 9. Thus, no agreement to eliminate the need for the Motion was reached. A 22 true and correct copy of my email exchange with Mr. Avenatti summarizing our 23 discussions is attached hereto as Exhibit H. 24 10. Attached hereto as Exhibit I is a true and correct copy of my March 27, 25 2018 letter to counsel for Clifford, Michael Avenatti, setting forth the basis upon 26 which defendant Michael Cohen intends to file an anti-SLAPP motion pursuant 27 California Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16 in connection with Clifford’s second 28 cause of action against Mr. Cohen for defamation. -3DECLARATION OF BRENT H. BLAKELY Case 2:18-cv-02217-SJO-FFM Document 20-2 Filed 04/02/18 Page 4 of 4 Page ID #:255 1 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of 2 America that the foregoing is true and correct. 3 4 5 Executed on April 2, 2018, at Los Angeles, California. /s/ Brent H. Blakely BRENT H. BLAKELY 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -4DECLARATION OF BRENT H. BLAKELY