Michael Avenatti believes his indictment Wednesday is a product of political revenge by the Trump administration, alleging one Republican close to the president said it “had Trump’s fingerprints all over it.”
While many of his former friends in media and politics have abandoned him, Avenatti says he’s still receiving support from an unlikely source: individuals close to the president.
“Two Republicans have” reached out in support, Avenatti told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “I would describe them as two Republicans with close ties to the president,” Avenatti said before claiming that one of them told him the indictment was likely inspired by Trump.
In an exclusive interview with the Washington Examiner, the former lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels opened up about his thoughts and feelings as he’s facing years behind bars and a dramatic fall from just a year ago when reporters and prominent Democratic insiders considered him a favorite for the 2020 party nomination.
“I am going to face these charges head on and beat them in a court of law. I have overcome long odds my entire life. Repeatedly,” Avenatti, 48, said. “Any claim that politics and vindictiveness is not playing a big role in all of this is baseless.”
Avenatti also told the Examiner that he no longer has a passport, but that he never considered fleeing the country.
“No, I don’t have a passport. And even if I did, I would never go anywhere,” he said.
Avenatti was indicted Wednesday on charges that he defrauded Daniels of nearly $300,000. Federal prosecutors in New York allege that he committed wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in the scheme. He faces up to 22 years in prison if found guilty.
“Michael Avenatti abused and violated the core duty of an attorney – the duty to his client,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement. “As alleged, he used his position of trust to steal an advance on the client’s book deal. As alleged, he blatantly lied to and stole from his client to maintain his extravagant lifestyle, including to pay for, among other things, a monthly car payment on a Ferrari. Far from zealously representing his client, Avenatti, as alleged, instead engaged in outright deception and theft, victimizing rather than advocating for his client.”
