Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniel’s former attorney, said Democrats will be labeled “weak”, “gutless” and “pathetic” if they don’t pass impeachment charges after the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. Avenatti described the report as a “mountain of evidence” on twitter Friday afternoon.
He also said on twitter, “There is something inherently pathetic in certain Dems blasting Mueller and Barr for not charging Trump and then when it comes to their own constitutional duty and testicular fortitude, they avoid bringing impeachment charges.”
However, it is unclear whether or not there is enough evidence to bring impeachment charges.
Impeachment expert, attorney and CNN legal analyst Ross Garber told Law&Crime this week that no president has ever been removed from office due to impeachment and Trump won’t be the first.
“No president in the history of the country has been removed from office by Congress for committing an impeachable offense. I don’t think the Mueller Report will justify Donald Trump becoming the first,” he said.
Garber emphasized that finding high crimes and misdemeanors is an “incredibly high standard.”
“The standard is incredibly high and the process is onerous and disruptive. What meets the constitutional bar of ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors’ is left to the sound discretion of Congress,” Garber continued. “Congress will not find that the facts outlined in the Mueller Report justify the undoing of an election. Moreover, Democrats will want to avoid even beginning an impeachment process.”
Notbaly, Avenatti was indicted in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the Central District of California in March on a litany of felony charges.
In the SDNY, Avenatti is essentially accused of attempting to extort athletics wear giant Nike to the tune of some $20 million. Specifically, he was charged with: (1) Conspiracy to Transmit Interstate Communications With Intent to Extort; (2) Conspiracy to Commit Extortion; (3) Transmission of Interstate Communications With Intent to Extort; and (4) Extortion.
But that’s not all.
Avenatti was also indicted on two additional charges in California. Essentially, authorities claim he embezzled a client’s money to pay off his own debts and that he used fraudulent tax returns to secure a bank loan. Those charges are: (1) a federal charge of bank fraud; and (2) a federal charge of wire fraud.
He faces a combined 107 years in prison.
Matt Naham and Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]