It seems Michael Avenatti struck career gold when he signed on as Stephanie “Stormy Daniels” Clifford’s attorney. Not only has the high-profile triangle of Clifford, Trump, and Cohen launched the charismatic lawyer into the national spotlight, but what began as a simple defamation case against his client may now undo the worst presidency in American history.
On Tuesday, Avenatti, whose claims were later confirmed by major news outlets, released evidence showing that Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen received $500,000 from a Russian oligarch in an account set up to cover “real estate investments.”
Considering that Cohen has proven even to himself what an atrocious attorney he is, he turned to his own lawyers and requested they make a statement.
MSNBC’s Ari Melber posted a piece of the statement, highlighting two key phrases:
BREAKING: Michael Cohen's lawyers file a letter saying Avenatti's document contains inaccurate information: pic.twitter.com/BmcGnMAZPs
— TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) May 9, 2018
The first, “we are not going to list every inaccurate statement,” might lead one to believe his legal team was about to counter at least some of the allegedly inaccurate statements.
Instead, they bluster on, pivoting the focus of the statement o the fact they have “no reason to believe Mr. Avenatti is in lawful possession of these records.”
If Mr. Avenatti did, in fact, illegally acquire the records, that is an issue for the legal system to take up. However, if the documents in his possession are “inaccurate,” as Cohen’s lawyers claim, then they would be falsified documents he couldn’t have “legally obtained.”
In two short paragraphs, Cohen’s lawyers went full Cohen on Cohen – they failed to disprove any of Avenatti’s allegations, then effectively confirmed their authenticity by complaining about Avenatti’s possession of them.
Best. Lawyers. Ever.
Avenatti, who is far more adept at social media than his nemesis Donald Trump, quickly took to Twitter to make that exact point:
Mr. Ryan’s submission on behalf of Mr. Cohen is baseless, improper and sanctionable. They fail to address, let alone contradict, 99% of the statements in what we released. Among other things, they effectively concede the receipt of the $500,000 from those with Russian ties.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 9, 2018
“They fail to address, let alone contradict, 99% of the statements in what we released,” he wrote. “They effectively concede the receipt of the $500,000 from those with Russian ties.”
Ari Melber noticed another issue with Avenatti’s revelation and Cohen’s response – Trump’s normally overbearing presence has made barely a peep in regard to these particular allegations. He addressed that in a segment on his show, available here:
Trump's silence on the Michael Cohen bombshell speaks volumes, Ari Melber says. #Trump #Cohen #Russia pic.twitter.com/U0IoCV4d0K
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 9, 2018
Avenatti has repeated, for the last few months, that he does not believe Trump will be able to serve his full term.
He might just be right.
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