Stormy Daniels says she feels personally betrayed by her former attorney Michael Avenatti and that it was time for him to own up to his crimes.
In her first TV interview since Avenatti was convicted of cheating her out of a $300,000 book advance, Ms Daniels told NewsNation how their relationship soured after she refused to endorse his run for president.
Avenatti, 50, was convicted in a Manhattan federal court of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on Friday.
Ms Daniels told NewsNation she was unlikely to ever see the $300,000 Avenatti had stolen from her by withholding two payments from publishers, lying to her about it in text messages, and then forging her signature on a contract.
“I want him to admit that he took the money and that he lied, and he gaslighted me and played games, and then tried to shame me,” Ms Daniels said.
Avenatti fired his legal team at the start of the trial, which led to the bizarre spectacle of him cross-examining Ms Daniels for nearly four hours.
He tried to undercut her credibility by asking at length about her ability to speak to dead people, and conversations she’d had with a haunted doll named Susan while filming her paranormal reality TV show Spooky Babes.
“I had to keep reminding myself I am not the one on trial here, I am the victim and the witness but I was being treated like I was being prosecuted,” Ms Daniels said of the experience.
Ms Daniels hired Avenatti in 2018 to help her get out of a non-disclosure agreement she signed with Donald Trump about an alleged sexual tryst they had in 2006.
The pair became high-profile critics of the former president, with Avenatti using the spotlight to cultivate a celebrity profile on cable television and late night chat show appearances.
Ms Daniels admitted she saw several warning signs that her ex-attorney was untrustworthy.
She said the turning point in their relationship came when she refused to back his run for the Democratic nomination for president in the fall of 2018.
“He was so offended. It ended up... turning pretty sour. He couldn’t understand why he backed me on all of my stuff and I wouldn’t just blindly endorse him for president,” she told NewsNation.
“He would throw all these temper tantrums.”
Ms Daniels is expected to speak at Avenatti’s sentencing on 24 May where he faces up to 20 years in prison.
