In a wide-ranging statement to the Daily Beast Wednesday, adult film star Stormy Daniels alleged serious professional misconduct by her lawyer Michael Avenatti.
Avenatti, Daniels alleged, failed to tell her how money from a crowdfunding campaign on her behalf was being spent — the effort raised $587,415 in total — and recently launched a second crowdfunding campaign without telling her.
“I learned about it on Twitter,” Daniels said in the statement. The crowdfunding page is in Daniels’ name and written in the first person.
Though she called her lawyer “a great advocate in many ways,” Daniels also said Avenatti “filed a defamation case against Donald Trump against my wishes” among other things.
In three weeks, we have a key hearing in Stormy’s case relating to our ability to force Trump to testify under oath about his role in the criminal conspiracy. This is a search for the truth. Support Stormy’s courageous efforts at https://t.co/lE9LHfEQVN
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) November 27, 2018
The defamation suit, launched in May, captured headlines for months until a judge dismissed it in October. It is separate from the suit over the non-disclosure agreement Daniels signed covering an alleged affair with Trump, which is ongoing despite Trump saying he would not enforce the NDA’s penalties for Daniels speaking publicly about the affair.
“I don’t want to hurt Michael, but it’s time to set the record straight,” Daniels wrote in her statement to the Daily Beast. “The truth has always been my greatest ally.”
Avenatti responded with a statement of his own to the Daily Beast, saying that “I have always been an open book with Stormy as to all aspects of her cases and she knows that,” and that the second crowdfunding campaign “was simply a refresh of the prior campaign, designed to help defray some of Stormy’s expenses.”
Avenatti in recent weeks has been accused of domestic violence, allegations he has denied. Following Avenatti’s arrest, Daniels said that “we should all reserve judgement until the investigation … is complete,” but added that “if these allegations prove true I will be seeking new representation.”
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office declined to charge Avenatti with felony domestic abuse, but a judge did grant the victim of the alleged physical and verbal abuse, actress Mareli Miniutti, a restraining order.
Read Daniels’ and Avenatti’s statements in full at the Daily Beast.
