Stormy Daniels’ former attorney Michael Avenatti has revealed that he’s been speaking with President Donald Trump’s legal team about testifying in his defense during his “hush money” trial in New York.
Avenatti famously led Daniels’ cases against Trump and became a corporate media darling for parroting the allegations on national TV.
Since then, however, Avenatti has been jailed for a number of fraud cases.
Yet, there could be one unusual twist that few saw coming, according to the New York Post.
Avenatti has revealed his willingness to testify on Trump’s behalf and his ongoing contact with the 45th president’s defense team.
Once known as one of Trump’s most outspoken critics, Avenatti has recently revealed that he could play a role in the “hush money” which is centered around his former client, Daniels.
According to Avenatti, he has been in frequent touch with Trump’s legal team and is prepared to testify against Daniels, whom he once represented.
Currently serving a nearly two-decade prison term in California for a host of financial fraud crimes, Avenatti told the Post, “The defense has contacted me.”
“I’d be more than happy to testify,” he added.
“I don’t know that I will be called to testify, but I have been in touch with Trump’s defense for the better part of a year.”
Though he once made public calls for Trump to be criminally indicted, Avenatti has changed his take on the 45th president’s situation recently.
This is now clearly evidenced by his eagerness now to aid in his defense.
“There’s no question [Trump’s trial] is politically motivated because they’re concerned that he may be reelected,” Avenatti opined.
He went on, “If the defendant was anyone other than Donald Trump, this case would not have been brought at this time, and for the government to attempt to bring this case and convict him in an effort to prevent tens of millions of people from voting for him, I think it’s just flat out wrong, and atrocious.”
Offering his predictions about what Trump’s mounting legal troubles could mean in an electoral sense, Avenatti added, “I’m really bothered by the fact that Trump, in my view, has been targeted.”
“Four cases is just over the top and I think there’s a significant chance that this is going to all backfire and is going to propel him to the White House,” he stated.
In the run-up to the trial, Avenatti has become increasingly vocal about the case, disputing several of the allegations against Trump.
Avenatti even admitted that the allegations by Daniels were fabricated in order to cash in from Trump’s 2016 presidential run.
If Avenatti were to provide testimony on behalf of Trump, it would set the stage for a bizarre battle of convicted felons.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is expected to rely heavily on the testimony of another disgraced former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as NBC News notes.
Once an attorney working directly for Trump, Cohen has since turned on his former boss and has done prison time for admittedly lying to Congress.
According to Avenatti, however, Cohen was having an affair with Daniels and they colluded to fabricate allegations against Trump to make money.
Precisely how jurors might assess the credibility of these two men remains to be seen, however.
The widely assumed liberal-leaning nature of the panel may militate in favor of Bragg’s case against Trump regardless of what is actually said from the stand.
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