Incarcerated lawyer Michael Avenatti made headlines earlier this year when Donald Trump's one-time fierce enemy expressed sympathy for the former president amid myriad criminal charges, leading observers to predict Trump's return to the White House. They speculated that he was aiming for a pardon in case he did.
But now that Trump is president-elect, Avenatti said: fox news digital A California prison told him he was a “fool” for counting on such things.
“If the president wanted to, he could show some sympathy and reduce my sentence or commute some of the charges,” Avenatti said in a phone interview. “I'm not putting up with it. He's got a lot of other things on his mind right now. Maybe one day he'll show some empathy for me, or maybe he won't.” “Maybe, but I think it would be foolish for me to count on it.” So for now I'm just trying to do what I have to do and be close to my family and my faith. ”
Mr. Avenatti, who became a star in liberal media in 2018, is famous for his offensive depiction of Stormy Daniels when she tried to withdraw the non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2006 regarding her alleged affair with Mr. Trump. However, he denies this. Daniels was at the center of Trump's conviction in New York earlier this year for falsifying business records to hide hush money he paid her during the 2016 campaign.
Michael Avenatti says people would be “fools” to pin their hopes on a pardon from President-elect Donald Trump. (Photo by Spencer Pratt/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
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Avenatti, who was called an “existential threat to President Trump” by Stephen Colbert, became a constant presence on television in 2018, giving hundreds of interviews on CNN and MSNBC, as well as appearing on Bill Maher, “The View,” She appeared on the cover of Vogue.
However, as soon as he was on his feet, his criminal life was exposed, including stealing from customers, stealing the proceeds of Daniels' book, and attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike. Now incarcerated at California's minimum-security Terminal Island federal prison, the 53-year-old says he's trying to rebuild his life and now speaks of Trump with almost reverence.
“The president is a force of nature…He's probably the most effective communicator of our time, and certainly one of the most effective presidential communicators this country has ever known,” he said. “He's a fighter. I don't know anyone else at this point who can endure what he's endured the last eight years and still come out on top.”
Avenatti said as a fellow defendant, he knows the stress it puts on individuals and their families.
“As a guy who's been there, I don't know how he did it, but it's very impressive,” he said.
Michael Avenatti spoke to Fox News Digital from a California prison about the 2024 election and whether he can expect a pardon. (Screenshot/FNC)
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His fame was so great that Avenatti was floated as the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. MSNBC's Nicole Wallace memorably praised the speech she was scheduled to give in Iowa in 2018. But now he says the party is in very bad shape and is outdated. That he is more aligned with the Republican Party. He said Trump's decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris was predictable.
“I'm currently a Democrat, but that may change as soon as I get out of prison,” he told FOX News Digital. “I might become a Republican, because the Democratic Party today is not the Democratic Party that I've known for the last 30 or 40 years. I'm a Bill Clinton Democrat, and if Bill… If Clinton were to run for president today, he wouldn't be able to run.''Running as a Democrat means that the Republican Party has become the party of the working class, and the only issues I can relate to with Democrats right now are Almost none. ”
Avenatti added that the Democratic Party is rudderless and has a branding problem, and the former “resistance” leader believes there is no chance of such a movement effectively forming during President Trump's second term. He said it was low. It is unlikely that Democrats are concerned about his reputation, given the significant damage to the suspended lawyer's reputation.
“I think Democrats had better start thinking about how they can potentially find common ground with him moving forward,” he said. “But this whole idea of re-forming the Resistance, demonizing Trump day in and day out, and tackling Trump Derangement Syndrome, is over and done with. It hasn’t been anywhere before, and it won’t be in the coming months.” It’s not going anywhere.”
President-elect Donald Trump watches the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
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The disgraced lawyer won a legal victory last month when a federal appeals panel vacated his 14-year prison sentence for stealing millions of dollars from California clients. The commission found the sentence was based on calculations of greater economic loss than actually suffered and sent the case back to the judge for resentencing, the report said. Associated Press.
Avenatti said he believes he will know a revised ruling within the next four to five months and hopes that time will be “significantly shortened.”
The 14-year sentence was in addition to the five years he served for separate convictions in the Nike and Daniels cases in New York. In October, an appeals panel debated whether the California sentence should run concurrently with the time Avenatti served for his other crimes.
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FOX News Digital has reached out to President Trump's press secretary for comment.
