Stormy Daniels lawyer challenges Hannity to faceoff; calls Fox’s MacCallum ‘classless’
The lawyer for adult-film star Stormy Daniels is challenging Sean Hannity to “a straight up discussion by two men” about his client’s case against the president’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
“We don’t agree on everything but we are both street fighters @seanhannity, which means something. Let’s set a booking so I can come on the show to talk about the case and the issues in the case. No BS. Just a straight up discussion by two men. Thanks for considering it,” Michael Avenatti wrote to his 240,000 Twitter followers on Monday.
The challenge comes one week after Hannity was revealed in a Manhattan courtroom to be Cohen’s third client. Hannity, an opinion host and staunch supporter of President Trump, maintains the relationship was “minimal” and he was never invoiced for any legal services by Cohen.
Avenatti was also scheduled to be on Martha MacCallum’s Fox News program, “The Story,” on Tuesday night, but cancelled.
MacCallum called out Avenatti for the cancellation, noting that the attorney had told CNN on Sunday that Fox doesn’t “seem to want me to be on their shows much.”
The anchor told viewers that Avenatti had “abruptly cancelled” after pledging “to appear on Fox News this week.”
“Over the weekend Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump, told CNN that Fox News doesn’t seem to want him on our shows. That is not actually the case,” MacCallum said.
“In fact, Mr. Avenatti was scheduled to appear on this show tomorrow night, but this morning, he abruptly canceled the interview despite his pledge to appear on Fox News this week. So there you go.”
Avenetti responded on Twitter Monday night, calling MacCallum “classless” and “unprofessional.”
“You are classless @marthamaccallum. I agree to go on your show tmrw [tomorrow] and then had to cancel due to a commitment with the case that I explained to your producer first thing this AM. You respond by calling me out on your show and deceiving people?! #unprofessional #agenda #basta,” he tweeted.
“Basta” is Italian for “enough.”
HLN host and former CNN “Crossfire” host S.E. Cupp defended MacCallum while accusing Avenetti of “baseless ad hominem attacks.”
Nah uh. You won’t find a person who agrees with you. @marthamaccallum is ALL class and a pro. You can be aggrieved about the booking without using baseless ad hominem attacks. Which, incidentally, do nothing for your client. Remember her, your client? https://t.co/mmKmF4HIKk
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) April 23, 2018
The Hill has reached out to Fox News for comment.
Avanetti was last interviewed on Fox News by anchor Shannon Bream on “Fox News at Night” on March 20.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is locked in a legal battle with Trump over a $130,000 payment she received weeks before the 2016 election.
The payment was part of a nondisclosure agreement, which Daniels says was regarding an affair she says she had with Trump a decade earlier.
Trump and the White House deny the affair.
–Updated at 10:05 a.m.
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