Michael Avenatti, the former attorney for adult performer Stephanie Clifford, said he has been communicating with former President Donald Trump’s lawyers and may testify against his former client.
“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 [a] year,” the former lawyer, who had publicly mulled a presidential run during numerous media appearances during the Trump administration, told the Post.
He did not provide any other details, and the former president’s lawyers have made no public comments about the matter.
Mr. Avenatti was the attorney for Ms. Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, as she alleged to have had an affair with President Trump in 2006. The former president has denied her claims, which have a central role in the New York Supreme Court case The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, which began on April 15.
In the case, President Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records for allegedly paying his former attorney Michael Cohen to bury negative stories—including claims from Ms. Clifford—during the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty, while his attorneys have sought to portray Mr. Cohen as an unreliable witness, in part because of his past convictions.
Before he was convicted and sentenced on federal crimes, Mr. Avenatti was a vocal critic of President Trump and had even called for his indictment in 2018. However, in his communications with the Post, he said the New York case against the 45th president is motivated by politics.
“There’s no question [the trial] is politically motivated because they’re concerned that he may be reelected,” he said. “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 think that we were both targeted by the justice system. There’s a lot of people on the left that were very concerned about my potential rise within the Democratic Party and my potential rise in Democratic politics. And the fact that I was not someone that was easily controlled.”
Mr. Avenatti said that he is “really bothered by the fact that Trump ... 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 said.
Later in the interview, Mr. Avenatti also took aim at his former client, Ms. Clifford, and said she would likely commit perjury when she is called in as a witness in the Trump trial in Manhattan.
“Stormy Daniels is going to say whatever she believes is going to assist Stormy Daniels and putting more money in her pocket,” he said. “If Stormy [Daniels’s] lips are moving, she’s lying for money.
“I wish I would have never met Stormy Daniels. I should have left her where I found her.”
Ms. Clifford appeared to dispute his latest allegations in the Post article, calling him a “lunatic.”
“I was about to say that I also wish I’d never met him but I’m actually glad because I’m the one that helped convict him so he couldn’t steal from even more unsuspecting clients,” she said, according to the Post.
Last week, 12 jurors and six alternates were sworn in by the judge. The jury of Manhattanites includes a sales professional, a software engineer, a security engineer, a teacher, a speech therapist, multiple lawyers, an investment banker, a retired wealth manager, and others.
If convicted, President Trump could face up to four years in prison. He would almost certainly appeal any conviction.
In all, he faces four criminal cases, but it’s not clear whether any others will reach trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have caused delays in the other three cases.
In a separate development, prosecutors asked for President Trump to be held in contempt over a series of social media posts he made last week. The judge already scheduled a hearing for April 23 on the prosecution’s request for contempt sanctions over his posts.
