Avenatti: ‘I think that Michael Cohen is in a very, very bad spot’

Michael Avenatti responded to news on Wednesday that President Trump’s longtime attorney Michael Cohen will likely cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York, saying that Cohen is in a “very, very bad spot.”

Avenatti, who represents adult-film star Stormy Daniels, said on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” that he believed Cohen will be indicted and that he will ultimately “flip” under federal investigation. 

“There’s no question in my mind that he’s going to be indicted and there’s no question in my mind that he’s going to try to flip on the president,” Avenatti said. “I think that Michael Cohen is in a very, very bad spot and I think the president is in a very, very bad spot because this is what happens when you trust your innermost secrets to a moron.”

Michael Avenatti: “I think that Michael Cohen is in a very, very bad spot and I think the president is in a very, very bad spot because this is what happens when you trust your innermost secrets to a moron.” (via CBS) pic.twitter.com/VhqT9p6moS

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 14, 2018

Avenatti’s comments come amid reports that the law firm representing Cohen will no longer work with him going forward.

Attorneys Stephen Ryan and Todd Harrison from New York firm McDermott, Will & Emery LLP previously represented Cohen. 

The switch up has renewed some Trump allies’ fears that Cohen could turn on the president. 

“This is very disturbing,” one Trump ally told CNN, adding that the president has “got to be extremely worried,” about Cohen’s potential cooperation with prosecutors. 

Cohen is currently under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations. FBI agents raided the longtime Trump lawyer’s home and office in April as part of the probe, seizing documents that included business records and communications between Cohen and Trump.

A federal judge ruled last week that Cohen’s lawyers must publicly file any challenges made against a special master’s decision on evidence taken during the raid. Of the hundreds of thousands of materials seized, only 162 of the documents have been declared to have attorney-client protection. 

Some of the documents were reportedly linked to a $130,000 payment made by Cohen to Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election. The payment was part of a nondisclosure agreement meant to keep Daniels quiet about her alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

Trump has acknowledged that he reimbursed Cohen for the payment, though he denies having had an affair with Daniels.

Cohen has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.