Stormy Daniels’s attorney Michael Avenatti continuously sought money from top Democratic strategists but was repeatedly shot down, according to The New York Times on Friday.
Avenatti, who has made it clear he would not allow his case defending Daniels to be “politicized,” reportedly reached out to an official in the network of liberal groups led by Democratic operative David Brock. Someone associated with Avenatti’s law firm also was in contact with two people connected to massive Democratic donors, according to The NYT.
Brock’s liberal groups refused to donate to Avenatti after being contacted by his law firm because they did not see the benefit of spending money on a legal fight that is being driven by the media and by Avenatti’s obsession with constant coverage of his work.
Avenatti said he could not name everyone he has spoken to about donations and reiterated that he is not politically motivated, saying he has received no “political-associated” donations from anyone on the Left or Right, according to the report.
“I can’t tell you the name of every person that I have spoken to, or not spoken to, over the last three months,” Avenatti said, “but what I can tell you is that we have not taken any political-associated dollars from anyone on the Right or anyone on the Left. Period.”
Although Avenatti claims he has not received any money associated with a political group, he reportedly personally called Bradley Beychok, the president of American Bridge 21st Century, a nonprofit group and super PAC founded by Brock, asking him for help raising $2 million from Democratic donors.
Avenatti was reportedly put in contact with Beychok by political adviser Mike Berkowitz. Beychok admitted Avenatti called him but would not explain what the call was about. However, Avenatti claimed he does not recognize Beychok, Brock or Berkowitz’s names when asked, but said it was possible his associates could have reached out to them.
“We’ve contacted people on the Right and the Left relating to a variety of issues,” Avenatti said to The NYT. “We have not sought any money from anyone on the Right or the Left.” He also claimed he passed on “big money” from political donors from both Democrats and Republicans “because we’re not going to have this politicized.” (RELATED: Michael Avenatti Threatens To Sue Daily Caller News Foundation Reporters Personally)
Daniels has reportedly stopped paying her legal fees and Avenatti said her case is being funded by donations made through a crowd-funding website. The website has reportedly raised over $527,000 from more than 15,000 donors. The money is said to be spent on “attorney’s fees, arbitration, security expenses, out-of-pocket costs associated with the lawsuit and potential damages,” according to The NYT. (RELATED: Judge Gives Avenatti A Choice: Give Up TV Or Leave My Court)
This all comes as U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood rebuked Avenatti during a Wednesday hearing on his motion to intervene in the federal case against President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, advising that Avenatti must give up his media appearances if he wants to be a part of the proceedings.
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