Michael Avenatti’s defense claims disgraced lawyer made ‘obscure’ porn star Stormy Daniels a ‘household name’ – only for her to turn on him over fees, embezzlement trial hears

Avenatti, 50, is battling charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after allegedly embezzling $300,000 from ex-client Stormy Daniels, book deal payments

The defense, however, claims adult film Daniels filed false accusations at Avenatti after she refused to pay an agreed upon fee for his help with her book deal

Avenatti represented adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, aka stormy Daniels, 44, in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate her the nondisclosure agreement with former president Donald Trump, which she won

Daniels who claims she had a one night stand with Trump, lost a defamation case against the president with Avenatti also representing her 

His attorneys told the court Avenatti elevated Daniels from an ‘obscure adult performer into a household name’

‘This case is about Ms. Daniels not wanting to uphold her end of the contract that she signed,’ his defense alleged at Monday’s trial 

The celebrity lawyer who has denied the charges, faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted

Michael Avenatti made porn star Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, a household name – only for her to turn on him when he chased her for fees, the disgraced attorney’s embezzlement trial has heard.   
‘Mr. Avenatti accomplished what few attorneys in America could. He transformed a rather obscure adult performer into a household name,’ defense attorney Andrew Dalack told the jury in his opening statements Monday.
Dalack alleged Avenatti, 50, had given Daniels hundreds of thousands of dollars only to be faced with false accusations from her, adding that behavior was not uncommon for 44 year-old Daniels, who when she didn’t ‘get her way, she turned on the people closest to her.’
Avenatti gained national attention by advising Daniels in 2018 after she claimed then-President Donald Trump had cheated on his wife Melania with her back in 2006, and paid her off to try and secure his 2016 election victory.
The law officer is now accused of scamming Daniels out of $300,000 by faking her signature, and using the cash to pay for a Ferrari and staff. 

‘What we have in this case, members of the jury, is a disagreement, a fee dispute, between an attorney and his disgruntled client,’ Dalack said. ‘This case is about Ms. Daniels not wanting to uphold her end of the contract that she signed.’ 
‘This has no business in federal criminal court and Mr. Avenatti is not guilty.’
Prosecutor Andrew Rohrbach told jurors that Avenatti lied repeatedly to steal nearly $300,000 in book proceeds from Daniels, in part by forging her signature on a letter to an agent. 
The tome detailed her alleged 2006 fling with Donald Trump behind his third wife Melania’s back. ‘This is a case about a lawyer who stole from his client, a lawyer who lied to cover up his scheme,’ Rohrbach said, before accusing the attorney of being ‘desperate from money’.
Avenatti, 50, faces charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and has pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted.  
In his continuing hubris, Avenatti was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last year after he was convicted in a scheme to extort up to $25 million from sportswear giant Nike. He is yet to serve the sentence.
In a seperate case he was accused tried of swindling several clients out of millions of dollars in California. He is currently awaiting retrial, after a mistrial last year in the case. 

Countering the prosecutor’s allegations of embezzlement against his client, Dalack said Daniels failed to honor her agreement with his client and ‘wanted all the benefits of zealous, fierce and loyal representation without having to pay.’
The defense argued the government was painting a picture that made it appear as though Daniels, whom he referred to as an adult film actress of ‘moderate notoriety,’ already had a book deal ‘in hand’. 
‘Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that could not be farther from the truth,’ Dalack argued, saying Avenatti helped Daniels achieve her ‘lifelong dream’ of publishing a memoir and without his help, she would have been unsuccessful. 
He also slammed the actress and her alleged paranormal beliefs, such as being able to see dead people or talk to dolls. 
‘Members of the jury, I submit talking to dolls might not be unusual. My kids do it all the time, but when the dolls talk back to you, that’s unusual,’ he stated. 

The defense alleged Avenatti had given Daniels hundreds of thousands of dollars only to be faced with false accusations from her, adding that behavior was not uncommon for Daniels, who when she didn’t ‘get her way, she turned on the people closest to her’.
Earlier, the prosecution tore into Avenatti as he appeared at a Manhattan court house on Monday.
‘He was supposed to be her advocate,’ Rohrbach said, arguing that Avenatti stole two book deal payments, totaling about $300,000, from Daniels, despite not having been entitled to any part of the deal.
The attorney reportedly told Daniels he ‘wouldn’t take a penny’ of the money. He was, however, to be paid a percentage – which was ‘to be agreed upon’ – for any help with the deal.

The prosecutor, noting that Daniels will testify during the trial, alleged Avenatti lied to the porn star, telling her via text the agency wasn’t paying her, when he had actually pocketed the funds himself.
‘She will take the stand. She will walk you through the text messages between her and the defendant,’ he said, adding: ‘She didn’t know that her lawyer had already stolen her money.’ 
He also noted the case should not focus on Daniels’ profession, but instead on the ‘fraud that was committed’.
‘Ms. Daniels has a lot of job, she is an entertainer. She’s been in adult films, she’s on a show about paranormal activity, but adult actresses and paranormal investigators can be victims of fraud and identity theft, just like anyone else,’ he said. 
Daniels is not expected to testify until Tuesday, at the earliest. Analysts allege her testimony will be pivotal for prosecutors trying to prove that Avenatti is guilty. 

According to his indictment, Avenatti used the embezzled funds to purchase a Ferrari, to pay for airfare and hotel stays, as well as to cover the salaries of employees working at both his law firm and coffee business.  
However, the defense alleges Daniels failed to provide Avenatti with the agreed upon compensation for helping with her the memoir.  
Avenatti has vehemently denied the fraud accusations saying, in a statement issued to the Associated Press through a publicist this weekend: ‘I am completely innocent of these charges.’ 
‘The government is spending millions of dollars to prosecute me for a case that should have never been filed. Meanwhile, they continue to allow Trump and his co-conspirators to walk free and suffer no consequences for their criminal conduct. That is not justice.’  
Avenatti, a fierce critic of Trump, gained wide attention and became ubiquitous on cable TV news when he represented Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Daniels said she had a sexual liaison with the ex-president and received $130,000 before the 2016 presidential election in exchange for not discussing her encounter with Trump, who denies it happened. 
Avenatti represented Daniels in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement, which Daniels won, and a defamation case against Trump, which she lost. 

After Daniels signed a book deal, the pair remained close, and Avenatti was even enlisted to write the forward to Full Disclosure, which was released in 2018. 
His career ended abruptly in 2019 as prosecutors in New York and California brought dozens of criminal charges that could land him in prison for the rest of his life.
His lawyers asked on Saturday for a two-week delay in starting the trial relating to Daniels, saying a court policy that could require some witnesses to wear protective masks to stem the spread of COVID-19 would violate his right under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to confront witnesses face to face.
Avenatti is appealing a February 2020 conviction for trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike Inc. by threatening to expose its alleged corrupt payments to families of college basketball prospects unless it hired him to conduct a probe. At sentencing in July last year, he was asked to serve 2-1/2 years in prison, which he is yet to begin.
The celebrity lawyer is separately facing federal wire fraud charges in California from prosecutors who say he embezzled nearly $10million from five clients.