According to a report on Friday, Michael Avenatti, a former attorney who was imprisoned for his involvement in defrauding Stormy Daniels and attempting to extort Nike, is said to be in discussions with Donald Trump’s legal team regarding his hush money trial. The New York Post stated that Avenatti has claimed that Trump’s attorneys have reached out to him and that he has been engaged in conversations with them for several months.
“I’d be more than happy to testify, I don’t know that I will be called to testify, but I have been in touch with Trump’s defense for the better part of year,” he told The Post.
The Post reported that Avenatti refused to provide additional information regarding his claimed discussions. Previously, the ex-attorney was a prominent adversary of Trump throughout his presidency, even advocating for his indictment in 2018. However, Avenatti’s stance has since changed, as he now defends the former president.
“There’s no question [the trial] is politically motivated because they’re concerned that he may be reelected,” Avenatti told The Post. “If the defendant was anyone other than Donald Trump, this case would not have been brought at this time, and for the government to attempt to bring this case and convict him in an effort to prevent tens of millions of people from voting for him, I think it’s just flat out wrong, and atrocious.
“I’m really bothered by the fact that Trump, in my view, has been targeted. Four cases is just over the top and I think there’s a significant chance that this is going to all backfire and is going to propel him to the White House,” he added. “Depending on what happens, this could constitute pouring jet fuel on his campaign.”
Avenatti implied that Daniels might engage in perjury if she were summoned to the witness stand for testifying in Trump’s trial concerning hush money, set to commence on Monday.
“Stormy Daniels is going to say whatever she believes is going to assist Stormy Daniels and putting more money in her pocket,” Avenatti said. “If Stormy Daniels’s lips are moving, she’s lying for money.”
Avenatti indicated that she may not be a dependable witness in the forthcoming trial, citing her track record of making assertions about communicating with deceased individuals and her ownership of a supposedly “haunted” doll named Susan.
“I don’t know how you can possibly put someone who makes those claims on the witness stand and use them as a star witness in a case against a former president United States who’s running for president. That is just absolutely ludicrous to me.”
Avenatti denied he is seeking clemency from Trump in a second term and said his change of heart “was not motivated by the former president’s famous susceptibility to flattery,” The Post reported. “I’m not saying any of this because I’m seeking a pardon,” Avenatti said.
Avenatti garnered attention last week after engaging in a telephone interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, where he shared his perspective on the hush money case involving Trump.
“You know, I think the case has a lot of problems. Now that– I don’t mean to suggest that means that Trump will not be convicted because I think he will be convicted,” he said.
“I don’t think that he can get a fair trial in New York. And to the people who claim that in fact, he can get a fair trial in New York with a New York jury, I would ask them, if they were to go to sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow and find out that the case had been moved to Mississippi or Alabama, would they still think the trial was going to be fair?” Avenatti said.
“Fair” and “Democrat” shouldn’t be used in the same sentence!