Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti, who is still serving a prison sentence, has offered to testify in defense of former President Donald Trump in his New York trial, in a stunning reversal from his prior opposition to the 45th president.
According to the New York Post, Avenatti said that “the defense has contacted me” and that he’d “be more than happy to testify.”
“I don’t know that I will be called to testify, but I have been in touch with Trump’s defense for the better part of year,” said Avenatti during a phone interview from Terminal Island, the Los Angeles prison where he is serving his 19-year sentence after being convicted of numerous financial crimes, including tax evasion, fraud, embezzlement, and extortion.
Avenatti previously became famous for representing the former porn actress known as Stormy Daniels, whose repeated yet unproven claims that President Trump offered her “hush money” over an alleged affair have served as the basis for the former president’s current trial in New York. Avenatti took an extremely media-centric approach to his initial representation of Daniels, doing frequent interviews on the major networks and building up his own profile so much that speculation soon arose that he could run for president as a Democrat in the 2020 election.
But Avenatti’s image soon collapsed after he was accused of extorting sports apparel company Nike, committing financial crimes against Daniels herself, and other allegations of fraud and embezzlement against other past clients. After being convicted in three different criminal trials, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Since going to prison, Avenatti has suddenly changed his outlook on President Trump, even going so far as to defend him against the numerous legal battles that the popular former president now faces.
“There’s no question [the trial] is politically motivated because they’re concerned that he may be reelected,” Avenatti said recently. “If the defendant was anyone other than Donald Trump, this case would not have been brought at this time, and for the government to attempt to bring this case and convict him in an effort to prevent tens of millions of people from voting for him, I think it’s just flat out wrong, and atrocious.”
“I’m really bothered by the fact that Trump, in my view, has been targeted,” Avenatti continued. “Four cases is just over the top, and I think there’s a significant chance that this is going to all backfire and is going to propel him to the White House.”