NEW YORK — A Manhattan judge blasted Michael Avenatti’s defense Monday against charges he stole $300,000 from porn star Stormy Daniels.
“Mr. Avenatti, you have a tendency to just lump like 20 things together in an effort to throw spaghetti at a wall and hope that some of it sticks,” Manhattan Federal Judge Jesse Furman said.
The scathing comment came after the government rested its case against Avenatti. The once-high-flying lawyer then sought to introduce an assortment of new theories challenging the feds’ charges that he swiped book advance payments from Daniels without her knowledge.
Evidence at trial has shown that Avenatti talked trash about Daniels behind her back while going to great lengths to make sure she never spoke directly to the publisher of her tell-all memoir, “Full Disclosure,” which described her alleged affair with Donald Trump.
The spotlight-loving lawyer dumped his defense attorneys on the second day of trial and opted to represent himself against wire fraud and aggravated identity charges that carry a potential 22-year sentence.
Avenatti, 50, threw the kitchen sink at Daniels when she took the stand, questioning her about everything from her alleged tryst in 2006 with Trump, to nicknames she gave her security guards, to her belief in the supernatural.
He even argued about who was to blame for poor sales of “Full Disclosure.”
“We don’t intend to argue in closing that Mr. Avenatti is guilty because he did a bad job of publicity. We don’t care,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said in response.
Furman told Avenatti he had sustained more objections during the trial than in any other case since he’s taken the bench.
Avenatti said he was unlikely to testify but hadn’t made his mind up for sure.
If he does, Furman warned that he would allow prosecutors to bring up the lawyer’s 2020 conviction for trying to extort Nike of $25 million.
Avenatti contends he had a right to Daniels’ book money because she wasn’t paying for his firm’s ongoing legal representation.
But Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, testified that the lawyer agreed to represent her in litigation against Trump for $100, with the expectation he would be paid through a legal windfall that never came.
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