Adult film actress Stephanie Clifford’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said Sunday that he expected criminal charges to be revealed against President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, within 90 days.
“I strongly believe that within the next 90 days we’re going to see an unsealing of an indictment against Mr. Cohen for a host of very serious offenses, and I believe, Jake, that is going to be a significant domino that’s going to fall in connection with this,” Avenatti said told CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday.
“I think he can be indicted for bank fraud, wire fraud, campaign finance violations,” Avenatti added. “I think there is a whole host of potential criminal conduct that could be charged. According to his attorneys, the FBI seized thousands if not millions of pages of documents in connection with the raids going back some 30 years. This guy is radioactive right now, and this is not going to end well.”
Avenatti and his client, who goes by the name Stormy Daniels professionally, had previously sued Trump over Clifford’s right to tell the story of her alleged affair with the President. In 2016, Clifford signed an NDA covering the alleged affair that she now argues is invalid because Trump didn’t sign it. Clifford also sued Cohen for defamation after, she said, Cohen implied she was lying about the affair.
Cohen’s home, office and hotel room were raided Monday as part of what prosecutors later revealed was a months-long investigation of his business practices, among other matters.
Avenatti said Clifford is set to attend the Monday hearing at which Cohen will present a client list to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood, part of his attempt to argue that documents seized in the raids are protected under attorney-client privilege.
