Rudy Giuliani, a member of President Trump’s legal team, attacked porn star Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti, accusing him of being a “make-believe lawyer.”
“I don’t think he is a real lawyer,” Giuliani told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an interview that aired Wednesday evening. “He’s a make-believe lawyer. He’s got all kinds of lawsuits. I think the guy is trying to bail himself out with this case.”
The comments came after Ingraham showed a clip of Avenatti on MSNBC Wednesday claiming that Giuliani has been dishonest to the American people about when and how his client was paid $130,000 by Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump.
Earlier this month, Giuliani revealed during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment. Those comments appeared to clash with what Trump said previously, that he knew nothing about the payment.
But a financial disclosure form filed by Trump and revealed on Wednesday showed that Cohen was paid more than $100,000 in 2017. The disclosure doesn’t specify what the payment was for, but notes that Cohen requested reimbursement and was repaid in 2017 by Trump.
Giuliani has attacked Avenatti in the past. Last week, he called Avenatti a “pimp” and a “clown” and said that he was not interested in debating him after Avenatti suggested the two go head-to-head in a televised debate.
“I wouldn’t debate that guy if they paid me $10 million,” Giuliani told Politico. “He’s a liar. All he does is put out statements in the press and they fawn all over him.”
Avenatti suggested that it would be “helpful for the public” if he and Giuliani debated one another.
Daniels filed a lawsuit earlier this year claiming the nondisclosure agreement she signed should be nullified because Trump didn’t sign it and has sued Cohen and Trump for defamation. Trump denies the alleged Daniels affair.
