Attorney Michael Avenatti is enjoying an astounding amount of television time as he promotes himself and his client, porn actress Stormy Daniels.
In a 24-hour period beginning at midnight on May 3, he appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS, "New Day" and "Tonight with Don Lemon" on CNN, and "Morning Joe," "Andrea Mitchell Reports," "Deadline: White House," two hours of "MSNBC Live," "Hardball" and "The Last Word" on MSNBC. His name was invoked more than 70 times during that period across the dial.
Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with President Donald Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 by Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen to hush up the affair before the 2016 election. She is suing Cohen over the hush agreement and also suing Trump for defamation for saying her claim of being threatened to keep quiet about the affair was made up.
Avenatti has delighted news outlets thanks to the threat he poses to Trump and the breaking news morsels he provides, such as claiming to Lawrence O'Donnell there were "extensive communications" between Cohen and Daniels' former lawyer Keith Davidson proving the hush payment was done regarding the election. Trump opponents hope the Daniels case will reveal Trump broke campaign finance laws.
Avenatti has also predicted on multiple occasions that Trump will not serve out his first term.
Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment, contradicting Trump's remarks he never knew about it. After Trump told reporters Giuliani needed to get his "facts straight," Giuliani issued a statement clarifying "the payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President's family."