Avenatti won’t run for president
Lawyer Michael Avenatti cites family in deciding not to seek presidential nomination in 2020.
LOS ANGELES — Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, who was arrested three weeks ago on suspicion of domestic violence, announced Tuesday that he will not seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
In a statement on Twitter, the attorney for porn actress Stormy Daniels said it was at his family’s request that he was declining to join the race.
“But for their concerns,” he said, “I would run.”
Avenatti, who is in the midst of divorcing his second wife, has three children.
For months, Avenatti’s personal, financial and political troubles have been mounting. In October, he was hit with a personal judgment of $4.85 million for his failure to pay a debt to a former colleague at his longtime firm, Eagan Avenatti.
That same day, the California company won a court order evicting his law practice from its Newport Beach offices because Eagan Avenatti had skipped four months of rent. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office enforced the eviction last week, and the landlord locked out Avenatti and his staff.
Most politically damaging was Avenatti’s arrest last month in an alleged domestic violence incident at his home in a Century City apartment tower. Actress Mareli Miniutti, 24, alleged that a fight over money led Avenatti to shove her, twist her arm and drag her out of the apartment.
Avenatti has denied wrongdoing.