As if we didn’t have enough to worry about when it came to the Trump administration, earlier this year, it came out that the president’s team had facilitated a payment of $130,000 in hush money to an adult film star named Stormy Daniels who had allegedly had an extramarital affair with the president.
That payment was accompanied by a nondisclosure agreement that Daniels has since sued to be freed from, claiming it to be invalid because the president never signed it. Despite that lawsuit, it’s remained somewhat of an open question just how in on the negotiations surrounding the NDA and the hush money that the president really was. The going line from Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has been that Cohen set up the arrangement of his own accord.
After a lengthy and striking period of silence, the president finally commented on the scandal on Thursday, claiming to reporters that he had no part in the hush money getting delivered to Daniels. The adult film star’s lawyer himself has now come out with a perfect take on the matter.
Appearing on MSNBC late Thursday, Michael Avenatti began by affirming that he believes that the president’s claim to have had no part in the hush money transfer makes it more likely that the president could be deposed as part of the ongoing legal battle.
He went on to say:
‘He’s effectively thrown Michael Cohen now under the bus at least from an ethics standpoint with the State Bar of New York… This is an undisciplined guy, who you know, he finally cracked. We knew he would crack eventually. We’d been patient, I’ve been waiting, and lo and behold, who would have thought that it would arrive on this Thursday, this glorious afternoon here in New York.’
Check out the video below.
President Trump “has effectively thrown Michael Cohen under the bus.”
– Stormy Daniels’ attorney @MichaelAvenatti says on @TheBeatWithAri. pic.twitter.com/2qI6Kw2rsa
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 5, 2018
Avenatti’s reference to the president having thrown his personal lawyer under the bus from an ethics standpoint is because New York lawyers are required to keep their clients in the loop about any activities that they undertake. If Cohen truly did facilitate the NDA and the hush money of his own accord, then it could mean that he went against regulations that New York lawyers are supposed to follow.
To be clear, however, it’s not as though the president hasn’t lied in the past. Just this Thursday while at a roundtable discussion in West Virginia that was supposed to be about tax policy, the president again trotted out his claim, for instance, that widespread voter fraud is present in our electoral system. That idea helps his point that he should have won the popular vote but it has no basis in reality.
Considering that fact, it’s not entirely certain that he’s not pulling a similar stunt here.
As mentioned, Avenatti hopes to get the president deposed as a part of the ongoing legal battle between Daniels’ team and the president’s team. He says that he plans to file a request for the president’s deposition on Monday.
Besides the salacious aspect to the story of the president’s relationship with Daniels, there is also the issue of whether or not the payments violated the law through functioning as an illegal campaign violation.
Featured Image via NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
