February 4, 2022: UPDATE TO THE STORY BELOW
CNN reports: Michael Avenatti was convicted Friday of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for stealing from Stormy Daniels.
This morning, jury deliberations took another turn in the criminal fraud trial of Michael Avenatti, former high profile attorney of Stephanie Clifford, a pornographic actor known by her stage name, Stormy Daniels. One juror had not been looking at the evidence, according to the jury foreman who wrote to the judge the juror “is acting on a feeling,” as quoted in the Washington Post. Avenatti immediately called for a mistrial — but Manhattan Federal Judge Jesse Furman rejected the request and told the jury it must use evidence to decide whether Avenatti is guilty or innocent, according to published news reports.
Avenatti allegedly diverted nearly $300,000 from Daniels to his bank account. The money he allegedly swindled was from a book advance for Daniel’s tell-all memoir, Full Disclosure that detailed her hush-agreement with Donald Trump, on the eve of his election, after an alleged tryst with him.
The government’s case against Avenatti presented evidence that he had allegedly sent a phony letter under Daniel’s name — forging her signature — to her agent. It directed the agent to send all future payments she was owed under the book contract to Avenatti’s bank account. Daniels did not authorize the letter, and she was not aware of it. Avenatti then spent the money on personal expenses and for his firm’s payroll, and allegedly lied to Daniels to cover up his scheme, that the publisher was late in releasing the funds.
During the trial, Avenatti, representing himself, did not take the witness stand but tried to discredit Daniels by asking her if she did porn, and about her beliefs about the paranormal. He also sought to minimize his actions, characterizing his alleged crimes as nothing more than a legal fee dispute between him and his former client, according to published reports.
Avenatti must be getting worried however, because this was the second time in two days that he called for a mistrial.
Earlier today, Avenatti wrote the judge a letter citing the “outrageous development” that “Ms. Daniels gave an extensive interview to CNN (on TV and radio) . . .stating that the jury is showing prejudice to Ms. Daniels because of her beliefs in the paranormal.”
Judge Furman rejected Avenatti’s request for a mistrial, calling his letter-motion “beyond frivolous” and citing Daniel’s first amendment rights.
The Order states in part “Ms. Daniels is not a party to this case and has a right to speak her mind. Defendant provides zero basis to believe that anyone on the jury is even aware of the interview (the Court was unaware of it until Defendant’s letter), let alone disregarded the Court’s repeated instructions to avoid any news or information related to the case. The motion is DENIED. SO ORDERED.” (Signed by Judge Jesse M. Furman on 2/4/2022
It might not be lost on the judge that Avenatti rose to fame making the rounds on cable TV to promote Stormy Daniel’s case against President Trump. He appeared to be a hero, confronting the fascistic Strong Man. But Avenatti disappeared from the airwaves in 2020 when a California jury found him guilty in the Nike extortion case.
So what did Stormy Daniels say this morning on CNN that prompted her former lawyer to call for a mistrial? Here’s an excerpt of Daniels, in the CNN transcript: . . . “[It’s] just crazy to me that he created all of these side shows and created doubt. Like, he actually mentioned while I was on the stand, you’re an actress, you did porn. Like, you’re — you’re used to rehearsing lines and faking things. Like, really? OK.”
Daniels went on: . . . .”[At] the end of the day, it’s [his conviction] not going to get me my money back. He doesn’t have it. I just hope that justice is served and it creates, you know, that he’s punished for his crimes. I’m going to leave that to the judge because I honestly don’t know. I’m way more afraid that if he’s found not guilty, this sets a precedent that is absolutely terrifying for anybody in the adult film business, and anybody that works in the paranormal field or even does paranormal as a hobby. Like, basically is free license to commit crimes against us and get away with it. And that’s really terrifying. And if — whether he’s found guilty or not, I intend to use my voice to try to rectify that for friends of mine and colleagues of mine.”
Stay tuned for the verdict. . . .