Some execs got face time with prez
play scenario” that might have involved bank fraud.
“The only reason they’re supposed to be confidential is to protect the person’s privacy,” he told the Daily News. “This is a matter of national concern for tens of millions of people. They should release the documents.”
The Treasury Department’s inspector general, meanwhile, opened an investigation into how Cohen’s banking information was leaked.
Cohen’s lawyer, Stephen Ryan, fired back at Avenatti, accusing him in a court filing of repeatedly making references to other people with the same name as his client in the Tuesday report.
Ryan also demanded an explanation for how Avenatti apparently obtained some of Cohen’s bank records, since he has “no lawful basis” to possess them.
Avenatti scoffed at Ryan’s response.
“Mr. Ryan’s submission on behalf of Mr. Cohen is baseless, improper and sanctionable,” Avenatti tweeted. “They fail to address, let alone contradict, 99% of the statements in what we released.”
Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the latest addition to Trump’s legal team, tried to distance the President from Cohen in light of the shady payments.
“There’s not involvement of the President in any of that,” Giuliani told HuffPost. “We can’t be responsible for what Michael Cohen is doing.”
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stonewalled reporters asking about the matter at the White House.
“We are not engaging in this at all and I would refer you to outside counsel for anything that has anything to do with Michael Cohen,” she said.
Cohen is currently also under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York, but hasn’t been charged.
His office, home and hotel room were raided weeks ago as part of the federal investigation.