The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said late Monday that it “takes no position” in the hotly contested pro hac vice request by attorney Michael Avenatti to appear before U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood on behalf of his client, adult film performer Stephanie Clifford, who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels.

The government was directed by Wood earlier in the day to alert the court whether it would join attorneys for Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, in opposing Avenatti’s application.