President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen late Wednesday fought back against the steady stream of leaks about his work for past clients and said Stormy Daniels’ legal team is playing an “extremely troubling” game by trying to sink his standing in the press by revealing as much personal information as it can.
In a court filing late Wednesday in the Southern District of New York, Cohen’s defense team of Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison said Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, “deliberately distorted information from the records which appear to be in his possession for the purpose of creating a toxic mix of misinformation.”
“Mr. Avenatti’s conduct in somehow obtaining random bank records and publishing them without proper concern for their accuracy is extremely troubling for the parties in this case, the court, and the public,” Ryan and Harrison wrote.
The Southern District of New York is where Cohen is fighting to limit the way materials seized by the FBI in an April 9 raid on his home and office will be used. Cohen, who is under federal criminal investigation in New York, has not yet been charged, but the raid took place following a referral by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The leak of records of Cohen’s past clients has suddenly become a major feature in a separate case that is ostensibly about Daniels trying to get a court to nullify a nondisclosure agreement that was supposed to keep her from talking about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006. She has also filed a separate defamation suit against Trump.
Avenatti’s decision to dispense information about Cohen’s clients has opened up a whole new front, one that some say could land Cohen in real trouble.
Some of the information released indicates Cohen tried to sell access to Trump once he won the election, including to companies linked to Russia — which is where Mueller comes in to play.
But the leaks have left Cohen fuming and wondering where Avenatti got his information.
According to Cohen’s lawyers, the government has some of the same information from the FBI’s April 9 raid on Cohen. But Cohen’s lawyers said in their Wednesday filing that “we are not aware of any lawful attempts by Mr. Avenatti to obtain these records.”
Cohen’s lawyers argue that Avenatti cited some transfers of money that went to a different Michael Cohen, and say Avenatti’s information is “completely inaccurate.”
But at the same time, Ryan and Harrison concede that Avenatti “has published some information that appears to be from Mr. Cohen’s actual bank records, and Mr. Cohen has no reason to believe that Mr. Avenatti’s in lawful possession of these records.”
Las Vegas-based trial attorney Robert Barnes said in a tweet that he thinks someone from the Southern District of New York, where Daniels’ case is being heard, is leaking the information to Avenatti, which is illegal.
But in an email to the Washington Examiner, Avenatti denied “any involvement” in a leak, “if there was one.”
“Further, under well established law, we could not be held liable in any event. Therefore, we have zero concern,” he said. In a separate message, Avenatti said he would not disclose his source “like any good journalist.”
“That is our work-product. And we have done nothing improper,” he said.
The source of Avenatti’s information remains a mystery, and some assume it’s an enemy of Trump’s in the government somewhere.
“I think Mr. Trump has a secret enemy within his ranks who is betraying him. If that person has legal access to this information, and no legal proscriptions to sharing it, then the leaks will have no legal repercussions,” Priya Chaudhry, a partner at Harris, St. Laurent & Chaudhry who specializes in white-collar crime and regulatory investigations and enforcement, told the Washington Examiner. “If this information was garnered through illegal means, then everything from civil to criminal consequences could spill from this.”
The government itself is trying to find out. The Department of Treasury’s inspector general said Wednesday it is looking into allegations that the financial records for Trump’s personal attorney were leaked.
Rich Delmar, the general counsel for the IG, said that investigators want to know if the disclosures of Cohen’s bank records violated the Bank Secrecy Act.
In the meantime, Cohen is left to cope with the release of Avenatti’s seven-page report on his finances.
Avenatti says that report is relevant because the money received went to Cohen’s company, Essential Consultants, which is the same company that paid Daniels to stay quiet about her claims of having an affair with Trump.
“As it relates to the case concerning the NDA, this is the same bank account the $130,000 payment to my client emanated from,” Avenatti said on MSNBC Wednesday night. “The $130,000 was wired out of that account.”
It’s created a separate nightmare for Cohen, who reportedly told companies and investors after Trump won the election, “I don’t know who’s been representing you, but you should fire them all. I’m the guy you should hire. I’m closest to the president. I’m his personal lawyer.”
It’s also stoking talk again of team Trump’s alleged association with Russia.
Avenatti’s report showed that Cohen was hired and paid by the U.S.-based affiliate of a Russian company owned by Russian oligarch Victor Vekselberg. The close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin attended Trump’s inauguration in January 2016 and was reportedly recently interviewed by Mueller’s team.
Without any proof, Avenatti has said he thinks payments from Russia may have reimbursed Cohen’s company for paying out Daniels, although Trump’s lawyers have said he reimbursed Cohen.
Still, Avenatti says he wants to know for sure.
“Not only where it originated from, but also who reimbursed it, whether the president new about it, what he knew about it,” he explained.
