Disgraced Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti has been in contact with former President Trump’s legal team and says in an interview from prison that he is ready and willing to testify against his former client. he told the Post.
“The defense contacted me,” Avenatti said in a phone call from Los Angeles’ Terminal Island Federal Prison, where he is currently serving a 19-year sentence for racketeering, tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement. he told the Post. federal crime.
“I’d be happy to testify. I don’t know if I’ll be called to testify, but I’ve been in touch with Mr. Trump’s defense for much of this year,” Avenatti said.
The former litigator declined to provide any details of his conversations with Team Trump.
A source close to the former president confirmed that discussions are continuing.
Avenatti has made a name for himself as one of Trump’s fiercest critics, and even publicly called for Trump to be indicted. In 2018, defense attorneys sang a different tune than the clink.
“There is no question [the trial] “It’s politically motivated because he’s concerned about his chances of being re-elected,” Avenatti said. “If the defendant had been anyone other than Donald Trump, this lawsuit would not have been filed at this time, and the government is bringing this lawsuit to prevent tens of millions of people from voting for him. I think that’s completely wrong and terrible.
“From my perspective, I’m really concerned about the fact that President Trump has been targeted. Four lawsuits are overkill, but I think there’s a pretty good chance that this all backfires and propels him into the White House. ” he added.
“Depending on what happens, this could be a jet fuel injection into his campaign.”
Avenatti, once an unknown California litigator, rose to prominence in 2018 after representing porn actress Stormy Daniels, who claimed in 2006 that she had an affair with President Trump.
Although the former president has consistently denied the charges, a $130,000 payment to Daniels that allegedly bought his silence during the 2016 presidential campaign is now at the center of a Manhattan criminal case against him. There is.
At his peak, the titular lawyer appeared regularly on MSNBC and frequently slept at his New York City headquarters.
Former CNN host Brian Stelter and Trump confidant Steve Bannon have both suggested that Avenatti would be a strong presidential candidate.
He visited Iowa State.
A show with former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci was also floated (but went nowhere).
But it all fell apart.
He was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in November 2018.
In 2020, he was convicted of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike.
In June 2022, he was found guilty of stealing a $300,000 book advance from Daniels.
That same month, he also pleaded guilty to federal fraud and tax charges.
He has been in prison for nearly 20 years for a series of crimes.
Avenatti acknowledged that he had made several “mistakes” and made “bad decisions” in the past, but argued that his sentence was too harsh.
Avenatti was scathing about his former client and warned New York City prosecutors that he expected Daniels to commit perjury if called as a witness.
“Stormy Daniels is going to say whatever she believes is to support Stormy Daniels and put more money in her pocket,” Avenatti said. “If Stormy Daniels’ lips are moving, she’s lying for money.”
Avenatti said he would be a poor witness in the upcoming trial, citing past allegations. talk to dead people And she owned a “ghost” doll named Susan.
“I don’t see how someone who makes such a claim could be put on the witness stand and used as a star witness in a lawsuit against a former U.S. president who is running for president. It just doesn’t make sense to me. That’s ridiculous.”
Mr. Avenatti said Mr. Trump would win if the election were held today.
The lawyer said President Trump’s current ordeal was based on many of his own struggles, adding that both were in the crosshairs of a weaponized judiciary.
“I think we were both targets of the justice system,” Avenatti said. “There are a lot of people on the left who are very concerned about my potential rise within the Democratic Party and my potential rise in Democratic politics. And I’m not someone who could be easily controlled. That fact.”
Avenatti insisted he was not asking for leniency in Trump’s potential second term and that his change of heart was not motivated by the former president’s famous susceptibility to flattery.
“I’m not saying this because I’m asking for clemency,” Avenatti said.
And he claims he never would have written the New York Times op-ed against Trump in 2018 if he had known at the time that Daniels was a “serial liar.”
“I should have never met Stormy Daniels. I should have left her where I found her.”
Reached by phone, Daniels called Avenatti a “crazy” and a “scumbag.”
“I tried to say I wish I had never met him, but actually I’m glad I did, because I helped convict him so he couldn’t steal from any more unsuspecting customers.” Because of that,” Daniels said.
