Avenatti calls on Trump, Cohen to release bank statements

The attorney representing porn star Stormy Daniels called on Wednesday for President Trump and Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to release financial records related to the shell company Cohen used to make a $130,000 payment to Daniels before the 2016 election. 

Michael Avenatti told the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that questions into Cohen’s financial dealings with Russia could be cleared up by sharing bank statements. 

“Look, let me say this, to the extent that it’s not accurate, the president and Michael Cohen should clear this up this morning,” he said. “They should release the bank statements this morning.”

Avenatti claimed Tuesday that Cohen, who paid Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, received $500,000 from a company run by a Russian oligarch in the months after the 2016 election. 

A bank report released by Avenatti shows that Viktor Vekselberg’s funds went into the shell company, Essential Consultants LLC, that Cohen used to pay off Daniels. 

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Vekselberg has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been sanctioned in the investigation into Moscow’s efforts to sway the election. 

“Michael Cohen appears to be selling access to the president of the United States,” Avenatti said on Wednesday, asking if the money went to a shell company owned by Cohen or to the Trump Organization. 

“Did some of it ultimately find its way to the president?” he asked.