Avenatti says donations pay his fees in Stormy Daniels case

The attorney representing Stormy Daniels on Thursday said donations are paying his fees as he represents Stormy Daniels in her legal fight against President Trump.

In a statement, Michael Avenatti fired back at critics who have questioned whether he is being paid by opponents of the president.

{mosads}”No political party or PAC is funding this effort,” he said. “No left wing conspiracy group is behind this. And no big fat cat political donors are leading the charge. Get over it.”

Avenatti said all his legal fees are being paid either by Daniels, an adult-film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, or by donations that they have received from an internet campaign.

“Once again (for at least the 20th time)- ALL fees and expenses of this case have either been funded by our client, Ms. Stephanie Clifford, or by donations from our crowdjustice.com page. Please re-read that if you are unclear. Read it again if need be. Keep reading it until you get it,” Avenatti said in the statement. “This is a search for the truth. And in the spirit of Ms. Clifford’s courage, we are not going away anytime soon.”

In response to inquiries from reporters about Stormy Daniels’ legal fees, @MichaelAvenatti has released this statement. The Crowd Justice campaign he mentions has raised $426,000 so far. pic.twitter.com/WvyfgCd2CT

— Yashar Ali (@yashar) May 10, 2018

Avenatti’s statement came after pollster Mark Penn wrote a column in The Hill inquiring as to how the attorney has been paid, saying there is something “fishy” about his legal tactics. 

Penn said Avenatti “needs to come forward with exactly who is financing his operation, who his sources were for detailed banking information, and whether he really is an attorney solely representing Stormy Daniels or just using her as cover to wage a political operation.” 

Avenatti responded that it was “too bad” that Penn “didn’t do any basic research for his ridiculous piece.” 

Too bad @Mark_Penn didn’t do any basic research for his ridiculous piece in The Hill. Had he merely bothered to review google or this feed, he would know exactly who is paying me. And we did nothing wrong re the release of the financial info. #basta

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 10, 2018

Penn responded, “Avenatti now says he is crowd sources but unclear how he started, and he won’t answer how he got someone’s banking records and nor whether he has indemnified Daniels for potential fines she could face as a result of his advice.”

Avenatti, who is fighting in court to allow Daniels to share details of her alleged affair with Trump, released financial information earlier this week on Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney. 

Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 through a shell company before the 2016 election, was shown this week in the financial report released by Avenatti to have taken half a million dollars from a company with ties to a Russian oligarch. Other companies also paid him for consulting services.

Trump’s lawyer is now disputing some claims in the report and alleges that Avenatti obtained the bank records unlawfully. 

This article was updated at 4:37 p.m.