NEW YORK — Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was so strapped for cash in 2018 that he stole from the client who put him on the map: porn star Stormy Daniels, federal prosecutors told a Manhattan jury Monday.
“This is a case about a lawyer who stole from his client ,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Rohrbach said during opening arguments. “You will learn that the defendant was desperate for money.”
The California lawyer is charged with stealing $300,000 of Daniels’ book advance while representing her in lawsuits against former President Donald Trump. Avenatti allegedly used the money to pay off his Ferrari and expenses associated with his debt-laden law firm and coffee business. He’s pleaded not guilty.
Daniels’ tell-all memoir, “Full Disclosure,” detailed her alleged affair with Trump. Rohrbach told the jury Avenatti stole the second and third of four advance payments to Daniels by forging a letter to her literary agent directing the money be sent to a bank account he controlled.
“He was supposed to be her advocate,” said Rohrbach.
The first witness to take the stand was Daniels’ former literary agent, Lucas Janklow, who testified that Avenatti was always the middleman for communications with the porn star.
Dozens of text messages between the two men in 2018 showed they mocked Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, as she worked on the book.
“Stormy Daniels is insane. She’s a porn actress. She doesn’t understand the real world,” Avenatti once told Janklow, he testified.
In his opening statement, Avenatti’s lawyer, Federal Defender Andrew Dalack, said the case was about a disagreement over money with a disgruntled client — but not a federal crime. He said the case stemmed from Daniels’ frustration over $300,000 in legal fees after losing a lawsuit against Trump.
“She blamed Mr. Avenatti for the loss and made up a story about the book deal to get him back and avoid having to pay the judgment herself,” said Dalack.
The attorney also questioned Daniels’ credibility, citing her new gig as a paranormal investigator on the television show “Spooky Babes.”
“At around the same time Ms. Daniels accused Mr. Avenatti of stealing one of her book payments, she began claiming that she could speak with dead people, see inside homes with X-ray vision. That she could interact with a haunted doll named Susan, who walks, talks, plays the piano, and calls her mommy,” said Dalack.
Among those in the gallery for opening arguments was Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, one of Avenatti’s top adversaries before both suffered spectacular downfalls.
Cohen recently completed a three-year sentence for an assortment of crimes, including an illegal $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep quiet about the alleged affair with Trump in the runup to the 2016 election. The payout was a violation of campaign finance laws.
Avenatti, 50, couldn’t resist taking a shot at Cohen in the courtroom.
“Do you have those Donald Trump kneepads?” Avenatti said.
Cohen later said he didn’t understand the comment. He told reporters he’s now friends with Daniels, who has twice appeared on his podcast. She’s expected to testify against Avenatti on Wednesday.
Both Avenatti and Cohen are disbarred. The two men continued to talk trash in comments to reporters as they left the courthouse. Cohen called Avenatti a “dirtbag.” Avenatti called Cohen “dumber than a box of rocks.”
The trial, expected to run through mid-February, is Avenatti’s third in two years. He was convicted in January 2020 of a $25 million extortion plot against Nike while representing a youth basketball coach in a lawsuit against the shoe giant. He’s yet to begin serving a 2 1/2-year sentence in that case.
A trial in California for financial crimes and defrauding other clients ended in a mistrial.
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