Stormy Daniels’s attorney is brushing off allegations that his work for the adult-film actress is politically motivated, saying that such a notion is “laughable.”
Michael Avenatti said on “Fox News @ Night” Tuesday that his previous work with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) and former Vice President Joe Biden (D) had nothing to do with his decision to represent Daniels.
Asked by host Shannon Bream whether his work is politically motivated, Avenatti said: “Absolutely not.”
{mosads}
“It’s laughable that people are pointing to that as the reason behind this,” he said, noting that the last time he spoke to Emanuel was in 2007. He also said that he had not had “any communication with Joe Biden or anyone else on the left.”
“This is about a search for the truth,” he added. “I don’t care if you’re on the right, the left, or in the center, you deserve to know the facts. That’s what this is about, period.”
Avenatti is representing Daniels, who filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking to void a nondisclosure agreement she says prevents her from speaking publicly about an alleged affair she had with President Trump more than a decade ago.
The White House has denied that Trump ever had an affair with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
At the center of the case is a $130,000 payment to Daniels from Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, just weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels says the payment was intended to buy her silence.
Cohen has acknowledged that payment, but has insisted that it came from his own personal funds, and was not tied to Trump’s presidential campaign.
Trump is seeking $20 million in damages from Daniels, arguing in court papers filed last week that she repeatedly violated the nondisclosure agreement.