Avenatti is kind of like the Erin Brockovich of lawyers as he takes on Cohen and Trump. Don't care how he goes about it as long as he exposes the fraud. The more he gets at the truth, the more he will be attacked. He'll prevail. Support him for speaking out.
7
Michael Avenatti is a hero.
7
Once again, a stupid decision by Cohen & Trump has come back to bite them. They could have just told Ms Daniels to go ahead and tear up the agreement and called her a liar. They have no idea what their arrogance has unleashed. I can’t wait for Avenatti’s weekly “drop” of information. He’s beating them at their own game. Go Michael!
10
Maureen Dowd's description of Avenatti as a "mongoose" was perfect.
In a good way.
Donald Trump and his pit of vipers have wrapped their coils around big trouble.
3
In your news articles you fret that Avenatti is staining himself by using tactics similar to his opponents. You offered the same criticism of Comey. Yet on your op-ed page, David Brooks tells us that Trump's diplomacy may succeed because it takes a thug to deal with a thug. Mr. Brooks' thoughts are of course independent of the news writers, but still...
3
Giuliani's hurling the Trumpish spitball, "pimp," reveals that (like his boss) he's got nothing substantive to say on the merits.
6
At my place, we have an over-under pool on how long it would take the NYT to try to make Michael Avenatti (or, of course, Stpehanie Clifford) the villain of the story.
Well, here we are. Avenatti "never shuts up," and Stephanie Clifford wears a pink suit to court, and respectable academic lawyers (who are always available to quoted in the Times) solemnly condemn Avenatti's media strategy.
According to the respectable lawyers, Avenatti's tactics are hurting his client. Really? Where? Does anyone outside the White House and the right-wing echo chamber think Stephanie Clifford is not telling the truth? Does anyone outside the White House and the right-wing echo chamber believe her occupation has tainted her more than Michael's Cohen's actions have tainted him? Or Rudolph Giuliani's actions have tainted him? Or Donald Trump's actions have tainted him?
Michael Avenatti, who is also being derided & mocked on all the cable outlets who depend on him for scoops, has done what neither those cable outlets, or the NYT, were able to do: show the money trail from Trump to Cohen to Clifford; from a Russian oligarch to Cohen; and from the Qatari Sovereign Fund to the Kushner real-estate business.
Yes, in that regard, this piece makes a lot of sense.
8
The problem is Trump should have been canned a long time ago- 8 months ago following the Charlottesville revelations. As a nation we believe ‘all men are created equal.’ Trump does not see eye to eye with this all important manifesto of the American way. His racist, ‘white privilege’ agenda has no place in the Presidency. But we’re a democracy. And as a democracy Trump knows exactly how to play our legal system. Which is why I love what Avenatti is doing. If we can’t remove the racist from the White House, the next best thing is to create a presidency for this president that is unsavory.
2
Avenatti may be a bit of a showman, and he's clearly enjoying the lime light, but he is sharp, sophisticated, funny, and urbane, AND he does his homework and has his facts straight.....that is to say, he is the antithesis of the orange menace, and God do we ever need him right now. Avenatti for President!!
7
So....Elmer Avenattie Fudd is hunting wabbits. He says, but I haven't got a wiscence to shoot a fwicaseeing wabbit. So maybe I will chase an ambulance. Haha, this guy, the Jerry Springer of Criminal Law.
Mr. Avenatti. You are a hero. Fight fire with fire. And I do hope that you win. Godspeed!
9
Michael Avenatti is a plaintiff's lawyer. Unless you've been one, you'll never understand what it means. You play by the rules, you know the rules better than your opponent, but you play to win. You are an entrepreneur. You are, in most cases, a thorn in the side to the "establishment" bar. An embarrassment, even. And that's the point. Plaintiff's lawyers represent the "little guy," and proudly so. Everyone else wants to be a corporate lawyer: careful, cautious, concerned with decorum. The plaintiff's lawyer isn't. You're a loner, a solo practitioner -- even in a larger law firm. Avenatti is a gifted plaintiff's attorney, one of the quickest, sharpest and clearest-speaking trial lawyers I have ever seen. Understand what he is, what he does, and what he loves. Mr. Trump and all your assembled attorneys -- you are up against it. Because Avenatti doesn't care who his opponent is. Bring 'em on. The more the better. That's who Avenatti (and his ilk) is and what he does. God bless, this is gonna be a knife fight, and I'm betting on Michael A.
36
Like them or not, Avenatti's tactics are long overdue and a breath of fresh air. The Trump administration is the most crooked and corrupt in our nation's history. It's beyond time that someone give them a taste of their own medicine. Our nation is in flames, most Americans are heartbroken and enraged, and most of our "leaders" sit firmly on their hands. It's about time someone got tough.
34
Our inability to predict the future becomes increasingly obvious. Who could have imagined a couple of years ago that a third-rate joke of a TV personality, Donald Trump, would be President of the United States today? And as we approach the midpoint of 2018, who could have predicted six months ago that two leading candidates for Person of the Year would be Michael Avenatti and Kim Jong Un. What new unimaginable cast of characters will be in our headlines at the end of this year? Let's make sure to secure our seat belts for this wild ride. We no longer can feel secure in claiming that we are an intelligent species.
5
Censure by Avenatti critics seems like essentially concern trolling, given the significant and continuing pass given to behavior Trump and his administration.
The likelihood that any findings with adverse implication towards Trump, no matter how egregious, may be ignored by a GOP Congress suggests that Avenatti may be the only available legal check on overreaching executive power.
To quote from the most recent 'Godzilla' movie: "let them fight...nature will find a way."
6
As a graduate of Penn (University of Pennsylvania), I had been feeling embarrassed about the association between my alma mater and Donald Trump, who is probably the most notorious Penn graduate ever. Now I no longer feel that way. Michael Avenatti, the man who may well take Trump down, is also a Penn grad. My alma mater is redeemed.
24
We have seen a lot of lawyers on TV / Movies and as talking heads on the news.....
From a "representing the client" point of view, Mr. Avenatti appears to be one of the better ones. Has the facts, presents the legal argument well, communicates well and is timely. Mr Trump may or may not have a "legal issue" with paying Ms Clifford but he certainly has / will have an even LARGER credibility issue. (if that is possible)
8
"Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things...." Tim Robbins to Morgan Freeman in that great movie Shawshank Redemption.
One of the equalizers as civilization keeps moving forward is that periods tearing away at "hope" inevitably will find a knight arriving to restore hope. Initially it was and still is Robert Mueller, but he has now been joined by Avenatti. Hopefully the two of them can bring about a much greater understanding of where we are headed in this country.
And even if that doesn't come to fulfillment, you just know that enterprising and innovating producers will create a movie
where casting will be at a premium. After all who could they get to act the roles of these four: Cohen, Trump, Avenatti and Mueller.
If nothing else a tag team match starring Cohen and Trump versus Avenatti and Mueller. No betting allowed.
5
Michael Avenatti is strong arming Cohen and Trump the same way Cohen and Trump strong armed Stormy Daniels, only he's not doing it behind closed doors, or threatening bodily harm in some parking lot when your kid's sitting right there in the car.
51
Have not seen or heard Avenatti employ "light-on-the-law ad hominem attacks", but it is an apt description of Prez Chaos and his cable TV legal "dream team".
10
Steve, I'm sure that everything you tell your students at NYU about "ethics" goes into their back pockets.
Fifty years ago while I was at Yale Law, "legal ethics" had some meaning. There were of course lawyer jokes. After all, those date back to the 18th century. What's going on today is not a joke. Whatever Avenatti can do to destroy Traitor Trump and his criminal gang is fine with me.
And remember, then as now, a law school education has little to do with the practice of law.
13
Avenatti is acting like a person who has all the dirty details on Trump and what we have seen is just the tip of the ice berg! Keep it up Mr. Avenatti, our country needs more people like you!
34
I just thank the Good Lord that Avenatti is on the right side of this nightmare.
Ms. Daniel's legal bills are being funded through crowdjustice. Well, the "crowd" wouldn't be able to fund justice if they didn't know about case, if it was out of the limelight, quietly lagging in the halls of arbitration/justice in LA. And we are getting our money's worth. Just think of all the things we've learned through Avenatti's advocacy for his client...and there's no doubt that his disclosures have put a damper on the Trump/Republican's cries of "witch hunt" and undermined their calls to shut down Mueller. (Poor tucker carlson is reduced to repeating the words "creepy porno lawyer"...do you think Trump gave him that line!)
Even if Avenatti was just a lawyer without a client I'd fund his trips to New York, to appear daily, to do to Trump what nobody else (looking at you, media) has been able to do.
There's a reason Avenatti graduated first in his class at George Washington. Since 2003, his alma mater gives an award for excellence in pre-trial and trial advocacy in Avenatti's name, and he has been a major litigator for years...he's razor sharp in mind and argument.
(PS Donald Trump must have known who Michael Avenatti was long before Stormy Daniels retained him: Avenatti's client, Mark Bethea, sued Trump and Mark Burnett for stealing Bethea's "idea" and turning it into "The Apprentice". The trial was set for May 31, 2006 but was settled very shortly before.)
20
We are lucky to have Avenatti taking on the Trump Crime Family. Those mice in Congress have failed the country.
38
Whatever happens to her suit, Stormy Daniels will be just fine. Avenatti is like the terriers killing rats in the time of the Plague. Please keep sniffing, sir, grabbing rats by the tail and sending them to their demise.
30
Based on Mr. Avenatti's appearances on TV "news" programs on CNN and MSNBC, I can't tell who he represents or works for - Stormy Daniels, the Democrats, or Robert Meuller?
3
Fight fire with Fire. It takes one to know one. Taste of your own medicine. Avenging Avenatti is fighting Trump style. Bold hyperbole but, thus far, backed by facts! A true patriot. At a minimum he is keeping this story on a front burner. Otherwise, Daniels would become a footnote. The proof of Avenatti’s success is that Trump has been conspicuously quiet on social media about the case. Although impeachment is very unlikely as an offshoot of this case, resignation could loom. It all depends on how much America wants to look the other way at the prostituting of the Constitution. Or, Trump starts WW III and this all goes on the back burner.
19
Horray for Avenatti! The writer of this article is obviously a Trump supporter, who Trump most assuredly appreciates this article.
However, America is finally seeing the truth of who Donald Trump is; a man with no moral center. A habitual liar who fires, intimidates or demeans anyone who disagrees with his stance.
We need more Avenatti's in America who are willingly stand up for truth and honor. And where is the GOP in all of this? Where is their outrage? Or the Christian community. Are they not offended by the affairs? The porno star? Nothing but silence fills the air.
You know if we had a sitting Democrat President, the GOP and the Christian community would be banging their drums loudly. They would be mortified and offended by the deviate President. But since the deviate President is a Republican, they say nothing. The hypocrisy of it all is overwhelming and quite frankly, disgusting.
17
What a waste of time. No examination of his past or who is even paying him - he says it's not Clifford. Giving Avenatti a free pass in the NY Times is no different from him sleeping at CNN. And why can't we ever get any news on where the original issue even stands. Was that a valid agreement between Clifford and Essential Consultants for $130k? Seems like she signed it and took the money, also agreeing to arbitration. The media has made so much out of this non-issue. She got paid less than most nuisance lawyers for an at best non-story and at worst bogus story. Was Trump really desperate to cover up a 10-year old, consensual one night stand? Reality was he was a couple weeks away from losing an election according to the media, and she knew her story was worth zero on the other side of that, especially when the media only wanted to buy stories about non-consensual acts. Imagine the Editor looking at her story "so she says it was 10 yrs ago, consensual, one night stand, and she's a porn star? Well we already have a bunch of other random non-porn star women claiming he touched them inappropriately, and he's probably gonna lose, so we're not wasting a penny."
This article reads "see, we looked at Avenatti", without actually digging in at all - a cover your rear move by the NY Times. The Daily Caller owns the NY Times on this subject, and it's free to read. I pay for this lousy article.
He says - over and over again - that a crowdfunding website is providing his legal fees. There are links to it that are easily found. So there's the answer to whom is paying him. And this article says it, too. And the case in the California court has been stayed for 90 days, ever since Michael Cohen filed the statement that he intends to plead the 5th Amendment if he is called to testify in that case. So nothing is happening there at the moment, but it's still ongoing litigation. Which Avenatti is handling, too.
If Michael Avenatti stays the course he has been on for some time now with regards to his pursuit of Cohen and Trump, he will go down in history as a American hero, as will his client Stormy Daniels. What better players to take down a Playboy president an his attorney than a porn star and hers.
20
The real story here is not Stormy being wronged because she didn't get whatever it was she thought was due, but Avenatti's relationship with the deep-swamp "patriots" who put Stormy on his calendar.
Too often, he seems a carnival hawker or "storefront" for Trump-haters in and out of the D.C. ooze.
2
this article comes off as, at best, "pointless", and at worst, intentionally misleading.
why did the editors publish it? avenatti doesn't need your attention, and you seem upset by that fact. why not let's see
this series of interactions play themselves out.
i hope avenatti, who plainly has public support, keeps it up and ignores the times.
9
Avenatti has exposed more relevant corruption than the House and Senate committees combined. And this is tip of the iceberg stuff.
We can assume the SDNY investigation is looking into the bribes funneled through cohen to trump and the RNC from businesses and also the money from Kremlin backed Russian oligarchs.
trump Russia election conspiracy is a massive scandal unfolding in the Mueller investigation, but the financial crimes turning up in this separate investigation are also huge.
So are the obvious ties between trump getting a massive pile of cash from China and then a day later having US taxpayers bail out a Chinese "phone" company that violated US sanctions and is used to spy in the United States
Corruption on a scale never seen before in this country. And Republicans look off to the side whistling hoping it will just blow past them.....
18
I keep wondering what Avenatti really wants. He may end up with a kind of fame and a bigger practice, but will that benefit his client? I heard her speak of more strip club appearances for more money, but that won't last long. Will she really benefit, especially if Trump or Cohen eventually ask for the 130K back?
Well, for one thing, Avenatti is refreshingly intelligent. We are all becoming inured to the dumbing down of the leadership of our country these days. He's not just representing Stormy Daniels. He's representing all the people who have been conned, cheated, stiffed and manipulated by Trump. He's standing up to the Mobster in Chief, unlike the sycophants in the Republican Party. He's exposing all Trump's misdeeds and shady operations that the press didn't focus on during Trump's campaign. He's my hero these days and if I or somebody I love experiences injustice, I know who I'm going to call!
22
"Disgraceful" what Mr A is doing, violating the high standards of personal and professional conduct endorsed and adhered to in politics generally, but especially by PT's administration.
But he's apparently not violating U.S. law's canons of ethics or the requirements of the states and courts in which he practices.
So puleez, don't stop now!
2
He is an American Hero.
16
Rooting hard for the quick-witted underdog attorney here. He plays by Trump's perverted rules and is winning - unlike so much of the cowering media and much of the beltway.
One terminology suggestion: The initial Trump-Daniels interaction was neither an "affair" nor a "dalliance" nor a "fling" nor a "one-night affair" nor "the demeaning assault of a subordinate".
It was, more accurately, transactional sex.
He expected libidinous satisfaction, she expected business favors. He did not deliver on the agreed-upon terms, and she quickly walked away.
Many disapprove on moral grounds of such sexual transactions. So be it. But such unwritten agreements among self-aware parties are a regular avenue for professional career building. And both parties agree to the terms ahead of time. That he reneged on the deal has now come back to haunt him.
11
...a past “littered with lawsuits, jilted business partners and bankruptcy filings.”
He’s referring to trump, right?
11
Mr. Avenatti is taking a page out of the then-GOP nominee’s winning playbook. With outrageous comments and wild, sometimes violent rallies, the business mogul captured all media attention away from his primary rivals and his Democratic opponent. The man was a “breaking news” item who made ambulance chasers out of every electronic and print media outlet during the 2016 campaign. He only lost the spotlight once, when James Comey made his fateful announcement that decided the election for the Republican blowhard.
Pundits say that Mr. Avenetti’s comments may hurt his client but the GOP nominee broke all the rules and won anyway. In today’s America, nobody knows what’s normal anymore.
9
Thank goodness for someone tough enough to stand up to thugs in the Executive Branch, and who knows how to do it within our institutions of law and order, while the complicit snakes(R) in the Legislative Branch abdicate their responsibility to defend the Constitution.
16
Having a past “littered with lawsuits, jilted business partners and bankruptcy filings.” is a bad thing according to the conservative website Daily Caller? I thought those qualifications got you elected as President!
14
Too bad trump does not have a lawyer as competent as Avenatti. But then who, with any integrity, would want to work with trump in the first place?
10
Avenatti is an answer to the prayers of many who cannot believe that with scandals surrounding Trump, he is still in office.
The lawyers' release of Cohen's bank records resulted in the "retirement" of the AT&T and Novartis legal counsels; his release of the Trump Tower, with Ahmed Al-Rumaihi in it, brought his confession that he attending a meeting there.
Avenatti, in a very short time, has accomplished much more than any lawmakers who are investigating Trump.
What keeps many of us going is the belief that it will be Avenatti and Mueller who will bring the fall of the house of Trump.
20
I love this guy! The resistance needs more like him.
21
Me, too! Keep it up!
2
Avenatti appears to be the only person (attorney or otherwise) who uses Trumpian tactics as successfully as the maestro himself. When I listen to him speak I hear the voice of Walter White "I AM the one who knocks".
25
a past “littered with lawsuits, jilted business partners and bankruptcy filings?" I dont know if that is an accurate description of Avenatti, but I wonder if they even realize that is a very accurate description of Trump.
57
Trump and his gang always accuse others of what they themselves are guilty of. (lesson learned from Roy Cohn)
2
Avenatti is playing with Trump, a con man and huckster who also happens to be the POTUS. The only court where he is the safest is the court of public opinion. Once the evidence is out it can't be suppressed, very smart. He and Stormy will make their money after the smoke clears I'm sure.
27
And hopefully, the American people will clear the smoke of constantly being lied to by its President.
5
Seems like Italy sent to America their greatest (Avenatti) and the not so (great) ones (Giuliani) too. The performance of each is telling. And Trump is not looking good.
30
Well, the founder of Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi, did spend quite a bit of time liberating peoples in the Americas. He also made it to New York, albeit at the saddest time of his life, after his great friend, Aguyar (Il Morro) was felled in battle, and his pregnant wife, the great Anita, died alongside Garibaldi while the armies of the Pope pursued them.
He stayed in Staten Island. He had crippling rheumatoid arthritis. Somehow he got his mojo back.
Hopefully, we can, too.
3
You forgot Scaramucci... We got an entire Verdi opera cast here.
7
To observer: Othello the Tragedy comes to mind. Many characters, developments and actions. Then lies, betrayals and truth coming out, while some get hurt (hence: Tragedy). Possibly very fitting to the current world of Trump.
My impression is that we have simply reached a tipping point where Avenatti has become the "go to guy" if you have any dirt of Trump or his inner circle.
If people want their tip buried they'll go to Mueller. If they want to see it in the headlines they'll take ir to Avenatti. So we'll see Avenatti breaking more news, just like this, in the future.
23
Brer, do not kid yourself...If it goes to Mueller he will use it when the time comes.
5
I believe Avenatti took this case because he was genuinely appalled at the way Trump & Cohen intimidated & threatened his client. Cohen stupidly threatened to destroy Stormy Daniels financially. Who wouldn't have sympathy for her against those 2 goons? Likely the rest of this initially fell in Avenatti's lap and when he realized what he had, he's smart enough to run with it like a guided missile. Hopefully he's going to succeed where everyone else failed getting Trump's tax returns. I thank Avenatti and Stormy Daniels every day for their courage and tenacity helping ruin thug Michael Cohen and living rent free in Trump's head - we know they do because Trump hasn't dared say a word against them...
57
Ms Daniels and Her Lawyer are the moral compass of a broken country.
32
I think a president who has affairs with random women while his wife is pregnant, and then becoming a leader of a country, is a sign of a broken country.
7
And they are a mirror of the broken moral compass in the White House.
And God bless them for that!
1
Mr. Avenatti, keep up the good work!
38
Nominate Michael Avenatti for the Nobel Peace Prize. If he keeps forcing America to acknowledge the corruption of the GOP, Trump family of grifters, Putin and the thieving oligarchs who own many nations' wealth, he'll deserve it. Using a statuesque blond with a seedy story to hold the attention of a generally unfocused citizenry, he's morphed a story about politics and greed that 60 M voters tried to ignore into a page-turner, made for tv with a cast of gangsters, thugs, high fliers and liars. Fuggedabout Trump. Avenatti for Peace!
54
So with you on this!
5
“....and to Michael Avenatti, for creating the conversation that led to the Unted States’ release from facism, we award...”
3
Remember that Ms. Clifford's life was threatened by Trump's thug. It is likely not the first time Trump employed such methods to shut women up.
She will not let it rest until she gets justice.
Trump threatened the wrong woman. She chose a smart lawyer to fight her case.
Why do you criticize her lawyer.... isn't she part of the #MeToo movement?
31
The entire world is alive to the irony that in a conflict between the President of the United States and his attorney and a porn star and her attorney - the later have, by far, the moral high ground.
49
Michael Avenatti is brilliant, he is the truth teller, the one calling out Cohen's and Donald's shady dealings.
Enjoy watching Mr. Avenatti on MSNBC!
29
Avenatti is a TV lawyer/clown. He has very little of substance to offer in briefs or in the courtroom, and thus he spends most of his time on CNN & MSNBC, where is is worshiped like a hero by the naive viewers there who are only too happy to hear more people trash Trump (and I hate Trump). I don't know a single serious lawyer who considers Avenatti to be a "real" effective lawyer.
TEAM AVENATTI ALL THE WAY! He is playing Trump and Cohen like a fiddle! Delicious!
30
I imagine Trump wishes Avenatti was his lawyer...
45
Think back to the days of F. Lee Bailey. This isn’t the first case of a lawyer using the media for himself and his client.
16
Unless you believe that Lawyers do things out of Altruism, this ongoing soap opera should spawn another episode: who's BEHIND Avenatti? Somebody is FUNDING this assault [on Cohen] and it's not Ms. Stormy. Even if she stands to score a big payday by winning, I didn't get the impression she is a dedicated Progressive. So, Stormy, who's paying you NOW?
5
Contingent fee. He gets a portion of her judgment. He's working for himself and his firm and his client, only. No conspiracy.
13
On the other hand we do know who has been funding Cohen and where he has been sending the money.
5
Yeah, but if it’s true, what does that matter?
What odd reporting from an institution that advertises: Truth. It's more important now than ever.
It is, and he's telling it. We can and should analyze the facts he presents and ponder the wisdom of his strategy, but there's no point in churlish criticism of his aggressive -- and remarkably effective -- style. Far as I can tell, he's the first & only human in this misbegotten farce who's managed to intimate the crooks, bullies and liars into silence. That'll do until they're all out of office and in jail.
41
All government and media investigations have with a few glaring exceptions ,i.e., GOP charlatans and Trump, have stayed within the dignity and confines of U.S. laws, traditions and civil discourse. Sorely lacking was a barroom brawler to fight the dirty fight against the below the belt, unprincipled antagonists of Trump and his minions. Until most recently that is, when this handsome Sir Lancelot appeared on the scene. Poking these scoundrels in the eyes, his assaults have kicked at a nest of vipers with each new day.. Bravo to Avenatti, you make America proud.
22
There seems to be a tendency to ignore the substance behind Avenatti. If you put aside for a moment the focus on his ubiquitous media presence and instead look at the facts of his prosecution, you see that he's actually doing his job as an advocate for his client.
I realize that lawyers are among the most derided class of workers, but in fact we need them to pursue justice in all cases as passionately and effectively as Avenatti appears to be doing.
I want to know, based on one of Avenatti's tweets: Why is Michael Cohen still in touch with Keith Davidson? Why the urgency, just two days after his phones and computers were seized, to get Davidson's contact info back?
The smelly trail Cohen has left behind is tantalizing to any bloodhound. Follow it.
46
The Daily Caller was founded by Tucker Carlson, and he is probably still the principal. Other than the Daily Caller's, I'm not seeing much media criticism of Avenatti. Other than Guiliani and Cohen, I've not seen anything like harsh criticism from the legal community. Avenatti reminds me of Thurgood Marshall, William Kunstler, Tony Serra and Geoffrey Feiger and I'm sure many others unsung lawyers, who were willing to risk their necks to bring light to the truth.
24
Mr. Avenatti is an interesting person. He's a gifted lawyer and speaker - but I wonder what [more] could he be after- part of me thinks he's sitting on something really big and waiting for the right time for the big reveal. The other part wonders if there any there - there and he's just doing this to promote himself. Like Trump says.. "Time will tell.. "
5
I like Avenatti. He's tough, fearless, genuine, and enjoys the chase even more than the rewards for success.
Too bad he'll never run for public office. It would bore him silly.
18
Watching this all play out, it appears that Avenatti is playing three-dimensional chess, while Trump and Giuliani are playing tic-tac-toe. Avenatti is running circles around those two. I, for one, am loving the show. I hope Avenatti can declare victory with Ms. Daniels by his side. And let's not forget that she's no dummy, either. At the very least she was smart enough to hire the best attorney for the job, and she's shown herself to be articulate and composed while in the spotlight. Hats off to both of them. Who knows, we may end up owing the survival of our democracy to Avenatti and Daniels!
37
Michael Avenatti is the person who has been without doubt the most effective "in the court of public opinion" against Trump and his minions beating them at their own game time after time.
It is a pity that he cannot be cloned to fight this evil administration on every news outlet in the country.
37
Lawyers, the good ones anyway, use the media whenever it might help their client's cause, including by raising funds for a client who cannot afford aggressive legal representation. The suggestion in this article that Avenatti is acting unprofessionally or otherwise improper is unfair and untrue. His personality may be over-the-top or too aggressive for some, but he has taken on powerful adversaries when few, if any, other lawyers would have done likewise. Compared to Ms. Daniels' prior lawyer who supposedly represented her interests in her dealings with Trump/Cohen, Avenatti is a godsend. There is nothing more admirable about our system of justice than to see the proverbial "little guy" stand up to a bully and give him a legal and public thrashing. But Avenatti's efforts have also resulted in public benefits, which the article totally ignores. Avenatti deserves our admiration, not the thinly veiled put-down constituted by this article.
34
I used to have a bumper sticker that read: "The media is only as liberal as it's corporate owners allow."
2
Avenatti's motivations may be anything but altruistic, but his aggressive representation of his client is bringing sunlight into very dark corners the exposure of which benefits the public interest. He can sling mud as well as Trump and Giuliani can, and he comes out of it looking much better than they do.
85
Sex with a porn star after the birth of your third kid was a cheap date. Buying her temporary silence was a temporary $130,000. Her attorney Michael Avenatti beating Trump - and Giuliani - at his own game, (originated by Roy Cohn) - Priceless.
113
Fourth legit kid, but who's counting. Totally with you! Priceless!
1
Actually, Trump was with Stormy shortly after the birth of the FIFTH kid, son of the third wife, Melania. Trump, such a family man, hero of the "moral majority".
1
Avenatti has every reason to publicly pursue his case against Trump and Cohen. President Trump and his personal lawyer are irrevocably conjoined in this action and I fail to see how there is not a case to be made against them jointly in their effort to thwart (or at a minimum - mitigate) discovery in the Stormy Daniels' litigation. Add Rudolph Giuliani to the mix and you end up with a layered cake of sponge, fruitcake and flan which, quite honestly, needs to be seen to be believed.
26
Article includes a significant misstatement of fact. He is not asking to be made a “party” to the case. He is asking for permission to represent Ms. Clifford in a NY court since he is not admitted to practice in the State. He is admitted in California. His motion is standard stuff.
41
Actually, no; Andy has it all wrong. Stormy is not a party to the case (Cohen v. U.S.). Thus, Avenatti has filed on behalf of Stormy a motion to intervene in the case. See it here:
https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2018/04/26/read-the-documents-stor...
This is not "standard stuff," like the pro hac vice motion that Andy seems to think this is.
1
At least Mr. Avenatti is not conducting national and foreign policy business on Twitter like Trump. It is nice to see someone use Twitter and the media to fight the Trump's and their sleazy associates. Trump may have met his match.
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... having a past “littered with lawsuits, jilted business partners and bankruptcy filings.” Were they talking about Mr. Avenatti or Donald Trump?
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Calling Cohen a legal pitbull is an insult to pitbulls.
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Not clear what's Avenatti's motive is besides getting money for a woman who feels wronged or who's paying him.
Lots of money spent and no "cha-ching" to be seen, yet. Cohen owes him money from past deals?
So when is the NYT gonna cover that story--where's all the money for Avenatti coming from? Certainly isn't from Stormy's checkbook.
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I read they have some type of "gofundme" account established for legal fees.
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With 2 or 3 clicks, you can find your answer. He's been very forthright about his funding.
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$250,000? He burned through that sometime ago. High-profile expenses have no limits. Can't believe Avenatti is doing this by the hour?
Still, who was the matchmaker--deep-swamp "patriots"?
Should be quite the story--maybe docs will show up in the NYT mail room again?
I normally do not read anyone's tweets, but Avenatti's tweets are like little clues to a crime story.
There are sometimes little tidbits of the details that the Press has not followed before, and within 24-48 hours we get articles
or public disclosures from different sources that back up or provide clarification that it is indeed what happened.
Avenatti's more public approach has also been helpful to the crowd funding campaign his client launched. There are probably as many women and men who donate small sums to help their cause, as their lawsuit has helped shine a spotlight on how Trump and his associates make business and policy decisions in ways that directly and indirectly benefit the decision makers.
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We are witnessing a political war waged in the media between Michael Avenatti and Donald Trump and his surrogates like Rudy Giuliani. Unlike Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Avenatti so far seems to have his "facts straight." Until Mr. Avenatti entered the fray, it had been a one-sided battle between Mr. Trump and his many surrogates from Mr. Giuliani, Sean Hannity, and his Congressional collaborators Reps. Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows against a necessarily silent Robert Mueller. Mr. Avenatti has proved to be a more than capable stand-in for Mr. Mueller and has skillfully used the media to present ever more damaging evidence of payoffs and potential collusion. He has presented himself as the champion of "the truth." We hope he really is.
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Well said and this further: Avenatti has laid out the blueprint on how to fight trumpism. Trump and his surrogates have had free rein on the media, gobbling up hours and hours of air time by being brash and “entertaining.” The amount of free air time given over to trump in the last campaign was estimated at $2 billion.
We need to adjust to the new paradigm. Put an articulate, entertaining, brash advocate out there. Let him/her “sleep at CNN.” Answer every tweet—and go on the offensive. A fighter doesn’t win only by counter-punching.
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This article curiously omits Avenatti's two public declarations of his intent and purpose in making a high profile media presentation of his client's case: it can embolden other women who may be in a similar situation to come forward, and it may encourage third parties to provide evidence or leads. It's likely this is how he (legally) came into possession of Cohen's SAR banking reports from any of the thousands of people with access to them through banking databases. His intimidating tactics also seem to have rattled the opposition -- look at the effect they've had on Giuliani!
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Avenatti's legal mind is a freshly honed katana sword compared to the rocks bouncing around in the skulls of Cohen, Giuliani, Trump et al.
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this struck me too. he just seems sharper. he also runs his own firm: he's not asking permission from anyone so he's more agile and responsive whereas his adversaries operatesas an uncoordinated, ever changing team with a total moron for a client.
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The other day, when Rudy was shaking his head so vigorously, I couldda sworn I heard something rattling around in there. Thanks, Doc.
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Avenatti obviously sees a massive bestseller and a skyrocketing cachet emerging from this circus. Still, I gotta love this guy. And look what he's doing for young men with male-pattern baldness. Go, Michael!
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I don't care about Avenatti's tactics or prior history with anything. I do care that he is doing what the Trump-enabling press has largely not been doing during the past 2 years. He de-weaponizes Trump's twantrums, digs up Trump and his cohort's misdeeds and keeps a spotlight on them until they receive the proper attention.
If the media had done half of what Avenatti has accomplished in just a few months then we might actually have a competent Chief Executive in the White House now.
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PREACH!
I totally agree, Stef. You saved me a longer comment.
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Who knew our once-vaunted Fourth Estate might be outdone (and outclassed) by an adult film star's brilliant legal advocate.
We need MORE Michael Avenattis.
(NYT, are you guys hiring?)
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Amen!! Avenatti keep it going!!
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Stormy Daniels lawyer is a much better attorney than the entire herd of Trump lawyers.
Stormy Daniels is much better at her business enterprise than Donald Trump has ever been at his.
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And Stormy's got waaaay more class than President Trump, with all his purported 'wealth,' might ever buy. That our current President could learn so much from an adult film actress speaks volumes to have far we've sunk.
GO Stormy!
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"That our current President could learn so much from an adult film actress..."
Heck, we could all learn something from Stromy.
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Let’s have a laugh... This is just another Mueller joke.
The Trump/Russia investigation has degenerated into a Burlesque Show starring Stormy Daniels with jokes provided by Rudy Giuliani. Dozens of high priced lawyers are enjoying the show eating popcorn while billing 800 dollars an hour.
Cohen paid Stormy to keep quiet.... a person to person contract... but now all of sudden the 130 grand is... AN ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION.... and subject to an indictment.
I thought the funniest bit of the Mueller probe was when the FBI went to view the Dem computer that the Russians hacked. ‘No lookee’ they weren’t allowed to see it.... Unbelievable!
Another Mueller joke... he asks us to believe the testimony of Fred , a dishonourable man carrying on an illicit affair with Lisa a co-worker. Their affair is fuelled by their passionate hatred of Trump until finally they have an ultimate hot embrace after Fred reveals ‘an illegal insurance plan to impeach Trump.’ Political intrigue is a powerful aphrodisiac.
The Mueller investigation has some positive results. We can now watch Stormy strip naked at a nearby club (NYT Article) and put a political contribution into her garter belt.
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Stormy Daniels and her attorney have basically nothing to do with Mueller, so your comments are a bit peculiar. Mueller is investigating the assault on U.S. Democracy by a foreign power and any resulting criminal conduct. that is why it is the NY office investigating Michael Cohen, not Mueller's team.
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You report that: "Mr. Avenatti has never once shut up about the case."
Yet Trump is the one that has been shutting up the women in his tawdry life for decades.
This is about more women than just Clifford. The attention that Avenatti has brought to this case has uncovered the overt and covert ways that Trump and Cohen have not just silenced the women in his life, but also the illegal tactics they've used.
We now know about Trump's coordinated "catch and kill" tactics. We now know about alleged coordination between Cohen and former Clifford attorney, Davis. We now know that Trump and Cohen violated campaign finance laws. We now know that Cohen was peddling presidential access for large sums of kickbacks.
Because of Avenatti, we now know much more about all these matters of national importance, the subject of which the NYTs has written about subsequent to Avenatti's revelations.
Would this paper have written these stories, but for Avenatti - not once shutting up?
And yet you frame Avenatti as unnecessarily uppity?
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Why do you persist in elevating a one night stand by calling it an affair?
6
And you know it was a 1 night stand how?
If my husband had one night or many with another woman I'd still call it an affair. You may have a different standard.
2
Avanti Avenatti!
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A porn star and her Lawyer, outsmarting the Presidential Apprentice.
Only in America.
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We've all heard it time and time again and yet the media keeps playing the same old song. There's nothing new to see here except perhaps how long they can keep rebranding the same old, same old and have people keep reading it.
3
Avenatti is on the verge of forcing Donald Trump to publicly disclose information about his finances that Trump would never disclose on his own.
Good for Avenatti.
Hey Donald, WE THE PEOPLE WANT YOUR TAX RETURNS.
Vote on November 6 to RETIRE all the Republican enablers of Donald Trump in Congress.
EVERY. LAST. ONE.
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AMEN, brother, amen!
18
Regardless of his motives, Avenatti has uncovered some shady dealings, such as the Qatari link and the shell corporation/slush fund that have publicly revealed the corrupt world that both Trump and Cohen and their associates have operated in. And it's not a pretty picture.
Whether you personally like them or their tactics or not, Stormy Daniels and Michael Avenatti have done the nation a real service. I'm glad they are on the case.
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Avenatti knows how to keep the spotlight and associated heat (real or perceived) on multiple targets: Trump & Cohen. He's Mueller uncloaked (albeit with a much smaller set of issues to mitigate.) He's also made what could have been tawdry (payoff) and boring (pay-to-play) much more engaging. Who can blame him?
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What is so entertaining about Avenatti is that he is using the very tactics that Trump has. Bully, intimidate, use the court of public opinion, fight back, don't cower.
I just wonder if he has a security detail. I mean we are talking about the Trump mob here.
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Will Mr. Avenatti be the exception to the rule: Don't wrestle with a pig? Or has he overplayed his hand? Lordy, I hope it's the former. However it all turns out, the flow of money will be in the direction of the plaintiff. Not a bad days work if you can get it.
21
The criticisms of Avenatti are very pretty lame. Avenatti's dealings with the press are far more accurate and informative than Giuliani's, who seems to have a bad case of foot in mouth disease.
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Avenatti for president! He's my current hero.
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Stormy Daniels and M. Avenatti are just what America needs at this time. There's no surprises here. The "smoking gun" is in Trump's financials and have been for the past two years. Trump is probably guilty of every charge he brought against Hillary Clinton: friend of Wall St., pay-for-play, self-dealing, putting the security of the USA behind personal enrichment, etc.
The Court of Public Opinion is in session and Trump will receive a verdict.
185
For someone having so much fun at Cohen-trump's expense, I hope he succeeds, and really hope he is well very well protected because these guys and their allies do not play remotely fair.
Trump has been unaccountable his entire life for a reason and intends to stay that way.
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