Stormy Daniels’ former attorney, Michael Avenatti, is in federal prison for defrauding her, per CNN. In her Peacock documentary, Stormy, Daniels claimed she hired Avenatti, a celebrity attorney, after accepting alleged hush money from Donald Trump. She claims that in 2016, before the U.S. presidential elections, Trump made his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, pay her $130,000 to conceal their alleged sex encounter. The adult film star revealed that the encounter occurred in 2006 when Trump was married to Melania Trump.
People Magazine stated that Stormy Daniels claimed in her documentary that her then-attorney, Michael Avenatti, was initially “generous” to her. She alleged that Avenatti helped her publicize her case against Trump and got her the Full Disclosure book deal. However, the attorney later forged her signature and defrauded her of $300,000. The money was from her $800,000 advance from the same book deal.
Sources like CNN and Reuters reported that Avenatti’s conviction for defrauding the adult film actress came in February 2022. The charges included one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, for which he received a four-year sentence in June. Moreover, at the time, he was already serving a prison term of 30 months for trying to extort Nike. The celebrity lawyer was also facing charges for embezzling $10 million in settlement funds from multiple clients.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Stormy Daniels’ former attorney, Michael Avenatti, is serving his term in California’s FCI Terminal Island.
What does Stormy Daniels’ documentary reveal about her former attorney, Michael Avenatti?
According to People Magazine, Stormy Daniels claimed to have hired Michael Avenatti as her attorney after accepting $130,000 from Donald Trump. Daniels stated that she also signed an NDA, which stopped her from discussing the alleged sexual encounter with Trump publicly. She alleged that she tried to hire other lawyers before finally joining hands with Avenatti.
In the Stormy documentary, Daniels revealed that most attorneys refused to work on the case. She said, “Some were just immediately, like, ‘I’m sorry — too hot for us,’ or, ‘We need a minimum $100,000 retainer.'” She added that Michael Avenatti was so “generous” when they first met because she agreed to not take “more than $100 from me. He was the only person even willing to not only help me, and champion for me, but believed me.”
Stormy Daniels further claimed in her Peacock documentary that Avenatti helped her case garner media attention. Later, he also got the adult film star a book deal — the deal was for her memoir, Full Disclosure. She recalled thinking “that he may be the devil, so I have to be careful that he doesn’t lose sight of what I need him to do.” As she had suspected, Daniels’ relationship with her attorney worsened after he defrauded her.
Michael Avenatti defrauded Daniels by forging her signature on a letter to her agent, per Reuters. He stole $300,000 from the $800,000 advance she received from the Full Disclosure book deal. Avenatti had attempted to do the same with several other clients.
Per CNN, in February 2022, a jury found Stormy Daniels’ former attorney guilty of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and received a four-year prison sentence. At the time of his sentencing, he was already serving a 30-month sentence for attempting to extort Nike. He later pleaded guilty to other unrelated embezzlement charges and received 14 years in prison.
Daniels said in her Peacock documentary, Stormy, that Michael Avenatti “betrayed me in every way” while talking about her former attorney. She added how “heartbreaking” and “upsetting” Avenatti’s betrayal was for her. She claimed to have “trusted” him, thinking he was a “friend.” The actress alleged that it had become “the pattern with people who were close to me.”
Earlier this year, in March 2024, a federal appeals court upheld Avenatti’s conviction and sentence for defrauding Daniels. In 2018, the latter unsuccessfully sued Donald Trump for defamation while working with Avenatti as her attorney. Later, she also lost two appeals.
Stormy Daniels’ Peacock documentary is now available to stream on the platform.
