Disgraced former lawyer Michael Avenatti told MSNBC that he received a harsh prison sentence in part because he was former President Trump’s “most dangerous enemy.”
“I wasn’t treated fairly, I was treated differently,” Avenatti told Ari Melber in a phone interview Tuesday, adding that the Justice Department under the Trump administration and Attorney General Bill Barr had taken matters into his own hands on his behalf. claimed to have solved the problem.
Avenatti, who sued porn actress Stormy Daniels after Trump’s alleged affair, was charged with defrauding four former clients of millions of dollars and attempting to obstruct IRS collections in 2022. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2017. Payroll taxes from the coffee shop he owned.
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Michael Avenatti told MSNBC host Ari Melber in a recent interview that he felt his prison sentence was influenced by political opponents in the Trump administration. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
The former lawyer was previously convicted of stealing $300,000 from Daniels and attempting to extort $25 million from footwear maker Nike, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison.
Speaking at a California prison, Avenatti said the current severity of sentences was influenced by enemies of the Trump administration. Avenatti went from being a darling of liberal media in 2018 to a criminal defendant in 2019.
“I don’t think there’s any question that I was treated differently, and I believe that if someone were honestly asked that question and looked at what happened here and answered honestly, they would answer the same way I did. “Yes, Ari,” he said.
“I was indicted in three cases within 54 days. The government piled these judgments on top of each other. I wasn’t treated fairly, I was treated differently.”
Michael Avenatti sentenced to 4 years in prison for Stormy Daniels fraud
Michael Avenatti sat down with MSNBC’s Ari Melber for an interview from prison to discuss the New York hush money case against Donald Trump. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
“And I strongly believe, and I will go to my grave believing, that one of the reasons I was treated this way was because I was Donald Trump’s biggest enemy in 2018. There’s no doubt about it, and so am I, his most dangerous enemy,” he declared.
Melber acknowledged Avenatti’s point, but countered that if he had committed a crime and “expressed remorse to them,” why would he need people to see his point of view?
“Why should people take your word on this tonight?” he asked.
“Well, I’ve learned over a considerable period of time and through decades of legal work that I’ve done a lot of good things, that a lot of what I’ve said has been validated, and that I generally have “Because I think we’ve proven that this is not some kind of human trafficking nonsense,” he said. “There is no question that I made a mistake.”
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He added: “There’s no question that I’ve made bad decisions at times, but I think people need to ask themselves, ‘Did you really do the worst thing in that person’s life?’ Are you going to define that person by that, or are you going to look at the totality of the worst things that happened in their life?’ What is the body of their work?”
Daniels, who once posed with Avenatti for a photoshoot for Vogue, recently appeared on The View and accused Avenatti of using his powers for “evil.” and said she never trusted him.
