Domestic violence allegations would sink most candidates aiming for a major party’s presidential nomination, but attorney Michael Avenatti insists he’s doing even better, even after his November 14 arrest.
“I think the field is shaping up to be even more advantageous for someone like me, not less,” he told POLITICO in a Sunday report about the possibility that he’d become the Democratic Party nominee in 2020. “I think my chances have only gone up, not gone down.”
The outlet said he “refused to elaborate.” In any case, the lawyer said he will be exonerated once the evidence behind the abuse claim becomes known.
Actress Mareli Minutti sought a restraining over against him after he allegedly cursed her out at his Los Angeles apartment, hit her in the face with pillows, dragged her out of bed by the arm, and took away her phone, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. This case was referred to prosecutors for a misdemeanor filing consideration, according to a Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office press statement obtained by Law&Crime.
Avenatti has firmly denied the claim, and construed it as a hoax perpetrated by right-wing blogger Jacob Wohl.
Jacob Wohl is a complete fraud who will ultimately be prosecuted for fabricating allegations against me and Mueller. He deserves to be incarcerated to the fullest extent of the law. And he will be. #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) November 23, 2018
Avenatti refused to go into more detail about his Wohl allegation, according to POLITICO.
The interview comes shortly after his apparent falling out with client Stormy Daniels. He became famous nationwide in her lawsuit against President Donald Trump and “fixer” Michael Cohen over an infamous 2016 NDA to keep about an alleged affair. But she told The Daily Beast in a report last week that he filed a separate defamation lawsuit against Trump without permission, refused to tell her how her legal defense fund was being spend, and that he started a new crowdfunding campaign, also without her permission.
Avenatti said that the money largely went toward security expenses, and that the new fundraising campaign was a “refresh of the prior campaign.”
[Image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images]
