Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti finally revealed the strategy behind his many television interviews on Tuesday.
WATCH:
Critics have accused Avenatti of being an attention-seeker by giving so many television interviews while representing Daniels in her case against President Donald Trump. Daniels is suing Trump for defamation and to release her from her non-disclosure agreement from an alleged affair. (RELATED: Chuck Todd To Avenatti: ‘Are You Trying To Win A Case Or Take Down A President?’)
“You tweeted that you are just getting started,” CNN anchor Anderson Cooper noted during an interview with Avenatti Tuesday night. “Is that hyperbole, do you have more information, and if so, why not just release it now?”
“Look, if anybody’s been paying attention for the last 8 or 9 weeks they know that there’s not a lot of hyperbole,” Avenatti claimed. “We make a lot of statements but we back them up and then some.”
“I have to tell you this — I’m going to touch on this, okay?” Avenatti continued. “There’s been a lot of criticism lately…about how our media strategy, and how often I’m on CNN and how often I’ve been on your show.”
“It’s all a bunch of nonsense because here’s the bottom line, Anderson. It’s working. It’s working in spades,” he said. “Because we’re so out front on this, people send us our information. People want to help our cause.”
CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter tweeted about Avenatti’s admission that he was using network appearances to gather more information on the president, and a number of CNN employees began mocking him in the replies.
Samantha Vinograd, a former Obama official and a national security analyst for CNN, replied, “So he is going on TV as a means of gathering more evidence?”
Law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow said sarcastically, “Yes Sam, this is what I was taught in the Secret Service Academy…evidence is always gathered from primetime cable news broadcasts.”
Yes Sam, this is what I was taught in the Secret Service Academy and @JamesAGagliano, @AshaRangappa_ & @joshscampbell studied at the FBI Academy; evidence is always gathered from primetime cable news broadcasts. #investigation101
— Jonathan Wackrow (@JDWackrow) May 9, 2018
Josh Campbell added, “It was part of the five pillars of our training: – firearms – defensive tactics – law – interrogation – primetime pomposity.”
It was part of the five pillars of our training:
– firearms
– defensive tactics
– law
– interrogation
– primetime pomposity— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) May 9, 2018