The former attorney who is currently in prison claimed that he has been communicating with defense lawyers.
Michael Avenatti, the former attorney for adult performer Stephanie Clifford, said he has been communicating with former President Donald Trump’s lawyers and may testify against his former client.
Speaking to the New York Post from prison, Mr. Avenatti said the defense has contacted him, referring to the former president’s attorneys. He is currently serving a lengthy sentence for extortion, tax evasion, fraud, embezzlement, and other crimes.
“I’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 [a] year,” the former lawyer, who had publicly mulled a presidential run during numerous media appearances during the Trump administration, told the Post.
He did not provide any other details, and the former president’s lawyers have made no public comments about the matter.
Mr. Avenatti was the attorney for Ms. Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, as she alleged to have had an affair with President Trump in 2006. The former president has denied her claims, which have a central role in the New York Supreme Court case The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, which began on April 15.
In the case, President Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records for allegedly paying his former attorney Michael Cohen to bury negative stories—including claims from Ms. Clifford—during the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty, while his attorneys have sought to portray Mr. Cohen as an unreliable witness, in part because of his past convictions.
Before he was convicted and sentenced on federal crimes, Mr. Avenatti was a vocal critic of President Trump and had even called for his indictment in 2018. However, in his communications with the Post, he said the New York case against the 45th president is motivated by politics.
