They’re back: Cohen and Avenatti return to spotlight at Trump trial
As Donald Trump’s hush-money trial enters its second week, jurors will be asked to focus on the testimony of his former Mr Fixit – the disbarred lawyer Michael Cohen.
Cohen, who served as Trump’s personal attorney for 12 years until 2018, is acting as a witness for the New York district attorney, Alvin Bragg. The case could turn on Cohen’s testimony about payments sought by two women, the porn star Stormy Daniels and the Playboy playmate Karen McDougal, and how those payments were made and allegedly disguised, as prosecutors contend, in violation of accounting and political campaign laws.
Another disbarred chael Avenatti, will lawyer, Mi- feature in Cohen’s testimony, given he previously represented Clifford and McDougal in the transaction. Avenatti is serving a five-year sentence after being convicted of stealing $297,000 in book proceeds from Daniels, defrauding $20m from Nike, and obstructing the IRS.
Avenatti said in court in 2022 he had chosen to represent Daniels because she was an underdog, and because no one else would.
“Nobody could have predicted the success we would have and the notoriety that would follow,” he said at the time.
In one case, Avenatti was charged with defrauding a mentally ill and disabled person of $4m and concealing a further payment of $2.5m, putting it toward the purchase of a private jet. Ryan Korner, the chief of IRS criminal investigations in Los Angeles, said Avenatti had used the money “to fuel a lavish lifestyle that had no limits”.
While Trump seeks to avoid being found guilty for his alleged payments to Daniels and McDougal, Cohen and Avenatti are seeking public redemption – and potentially a presidential pardon.