The attorney representing adult-film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump sought legal funding from major Democratic operatives, according to The New York Times.
Michael Avenatti reportedly appealed to a top operative for liberal donor David Brock’s web of progressive nonprofits and super PACs, though the millionaire was dissuaded by the attorney’s TV-centric approach to the case.
Daniels’s lawyer reached out to American Bridge, a Brock-founded super PAC that reportedly spent large sums on former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
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But the group’s leaders ultimately decided that despite their past efforts to push women to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against the president, the Stormy Daniels case would not be a good investment.
Members of Avenatti’s law firm, which was recently fined by the federal government for lapsed back tax payments, also contacted political adviser Mike Berkowitz, who works for the Pritzker family, owners of the Hyatt hotel chain and longtime Democratic donors.
Berkowtiz reportedly advised Avenatti to make contact with Brock.
The overtures to Democratic donors reportedly came just days before Avenatti and Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, unveiled a crowdfunding site to gather funds for her legal fees.
Avenatti, who is handling Daniels’s legal efforts to dismantle a nondisclosure agreement that bars her from sharing information about her alleged affair with Trump, has maintained that all legal fees have been covered by Daniels or through the funding site.