Avenatti has vehemently asserted his innocence on the claims that he pocketed nearly $300,000 of the $800,000 advance paid to Daniels for her 2018 book “Full Disclosure.”
NEW YORK — Once-prominent California attorney Michael Avenatti took over representation of himself Tuesday at his latest criminal trial, setting the stage for him to directly confront former client and porn star Stormy Daniels over her claims that he stole some of the money she was owed for her autobiography.
Although Furman told Avenatti earlier that his right to represent himself was “sharply curtailed” once his trial began, the judge granted Avenatti's request after Avenatti insisted he wanted to act as his own lawyer, as he did at a trial in California for six weeks last year. At that federal trial, he represented himself against criminal charges that he cheated clients of millions of dollars, and the proceedings ended in a mistrial.
Before, in early 2020, Avenatti was convicted of trying to extort up to $25 million from sportswear giant Nike by threatening to tarnish the company's reputation if it didn't meet his demands. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. At that trial, he did not testify and was represented by lawyers.
Avenatti became well known nationally in 2018 as he represented Daniels in lawsuits against then-President Donald Trump. Daniels had received $130,000 shortly before the 2016 presidential election to remain silent about her claims that she'd had a sexual tryst with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied it happened.
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