By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Adult film actress Stormy Daniels told jurors on Thursday that her former lawyer Michael Avenatti “stole from me and lied to me,” as she testified at Avenatti’s criminal trial over accusations that he defrauded her.
Daniels, 42, said in Manhattan federal court that she hired Avenatti in February 2018 to help her get out of a non-disclosure agreement with then-U.S. President Donald Trump, but that she fired Avenatti one year later.
“I hired a new attorney because he stole from me and lied to me,” Daniels said on the witness stand, wearing a cardigan sweater over a black dress.
Her testimony for the prosecution, which could stretch into Friday, sets up a possible spectacle in which Avenatti, a brash lawyer who is representing himself in the case, would cross-examine his own former client. Avenatti represented Daniels in cases she brought against Trump.
Avenatti, 50, has pleaded not guilty to wire fraud and identity theft. Prosecutors have said Avenatti forged her signature to embezzle nearly $300,000 from a book contract that was meant for her. Avenatti has argued https://www.reuters.com/world/us/michael-avenatti-us-lawyer-who-battled-trump-goes-trial-fraud-case-2022-01-24 that the dispute is a disagreement over legal fees that has no place in federal criminal court.
Avenatti’s work for Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, helped propel him to fame in 2018. The following year, he was charged with extortion in a separate case. A slew of subsequent legal entanglements have ended his law career.
Daniels is known for receiving $130,000 of hush money from Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in exchange for keeping quiet before the 2016 presidential election about the sexual liaison she has said she had with Trump years earlier, which Trump denies.
Avenatti represented Daniels in a successful bid to throw out her non-disclosure agreement with Trump.
Daniels said she paid Avenatti a $100 retainer to represent her, with the understanding that he would launch a crowdfunding campaign to pay for her legal expenses. That fund would go on to raise $650,000, Daniels said.
Prosecutors displayed for the jury a copy of their deal, which said that if Avenatti helped Daniels finalize a book or media opportunity for which she was paid he would be entitled to “a reasonable percentage to be agreed upon” between them.
“When it came to a book deal, movie or documentary, we would discuss it later,” said Daniels, adding that the two never came to an agreement about payment to Avenatti for the book.
Daniels described herself as a writer, director and actress currently producing a television show about paranormal activity. Avenatti is expected to use his former clients’ interest in ghosts to portray her testimony as unreliable when his cross-examines begins either later on Thursday or on Friday.
Though not a criminal lawyer, Avenatti began representing himself https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/michael-avenatti-asks-represent-himself-stormy-daniels-fraud-case-2022-01-25 in the case on Tuesday, citing a breakdown in his relationship with his public defenders. They will remain in the courtroom as standby counsel should he need help.
Based in Los Angeles, Avenatti became a cable TV fixture when he was representing Daniels.
He was hit with dozens of criminal charges in March and April 2019 for allegedly cheating Daniels, defrauding several other clients and trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike Inc, among other charges.
Avenatti is appealing his conviction and 2-1/2-year prison sentence in the Nike case. A trial over the other alleged client frauds, in which Avenatti also represented himself, ended in a mistrial. The remaining charges have yet to be tried.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham, Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
