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NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of documents relating to hush-money payments by Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to two women who said they had sexual encounters years ago with the U.S. president, declaring the matter of “national importance.” U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan ordered that the documents, used by federal prosecutors to obtain a search warrant for Cohen’s home and office last year, must be unsealed by 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) on Thursday. Cohen, 52, pleaded guilty in 2018 to directing payments of $130,000 to adult film star Stormy...

Attorney Michael Avenatti blasted actress Alyssa Milano on Twitter Monday afternoon in response to a tweet she issued about his arrest for domestic violence last year. At the time, Milano wrote that the allegations against Avenatti were "totally disgusting" and that she was "disavowing" Stormy Daniels's former lawyer. Avenatti was arrested in November 2018 after an ex-girlfriend accused him of grabbing her by the wrist and throwing her out of his apartment. The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office announced in February that Avenatti would not be charged with a crime. For some reason, the lawyer chose to respond on Monday...

California state bar moves to suspend Avenatti's law license, saying he poses 'substantial threat of harm to clients or the public' The California State Bar, which oversees discipline for all California-licensed attorneys, issued a "consumer alert" Monday evening concerning Michael Avenatti, saying it was moving to suspend him from the practice of law because his alleged conduct "poses a substantial threat of harm to clients or the public." The sudden development further accentuated Avenatti's dramatic public fall from grace -- he was once celebrated in liberal media circles as a potential challenger to President Trump -- as he faces numerous...

Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters (CA) completely went off the rails Tuesday and called for Trump to resign in one of her craziest tirades yet. Waters, who is one of the most corrupt lawmakers in Congress, had the nerve to accuse Trump of being a “crooked liar.” “Low life Trump – lying, crooked, tax evader, porn star fornicator – should take his ridiculous self home, resign, and free us of what we will have to do to impeach him and throw him out of office!” Waters said Tuesday in a tweet.

Hailed and renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz took pictures of Chelsea Manning for Vogue in September 2017. Manning is back in jail after refusing to testify before a grand jury about Julian Assange. Leibovitz photographed Kirsten Gillibrand for Vogue in November 2017. Her presidential campaign has stumbled out of the gate and Gillibrand is at the tail end of a large pack of candidates; earlier this month the New York Times wrote that her campaign is “struggling.” Leibovitz photographed lawyer Michael Avenatti for Vogue, October 2018. Avenatti now faces charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, embezzlement, 36 additional financial-crime charges, including...

Embattled attorney Michael Avenatti will have a busy day in Manhattan federal court Tuesday -- but as a defendant, not as counsel. Avenatti, 49, is scheduled to be arraigned on charges that he tried to extort up to $25 million from athletic apparel giant Nike by threatening to expose claims that the shoemaker paid off high school basketball players to steer them to Nike-sponsored colleges. He also is scheduled to be arraigned on charges that he stole nearly $300,000 from adult film actress Stormy Daniels, the client who rocketed him to national prominence. In the Nike case, Avenatti is charged...

I ususally check in with Dice once a day... he's pretty funny but that's my opinion not yours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-rhXXChjDI

Michael Avenatti's legal troubles escalated on Wednesday as federal prosecutors announced new criminal charges accusing the lawyer and prominent critic of U.S. President Donald Trump of stealing from porn star Stormy Daniels and extorting Nike Inc. Prosecutors accused Avenatti, 48, of stealing about $300,000 from Daniels, about half of which has not been repaid, after helping his former client secure a book contract. They also said he has been indicted on previously announced charges that he tried to blackmail Nike out of more than $20 million by threatening to expose what he called the athletic wear company's improper payments to...

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Michael Avenatti on Wednesday with fraud and aggravated identity theft for allegedly taking money that was supposed to be paid to porn star Stormy Daniels. Avenatti is accused of misappropriating funds Daniels was supposed to get in a book deal while he represented Daniels in her legal battle against President Trump and his former longtime attorney Michael Cohen. Prosecutors alleged Avenatti used a fraudulent document to convince Daniel’s literary agent to divert money from the porn star to an account controlled by him, then spent the money on his own personal and business matters. The...

In a statement posted Wednesday to Twitter, attorney Michael Avenatti denied he misappropriated funds meant for his client, adult film star Stormy Daniels, in her suit against President Donald Trump. “No monies relating to Ms. Daniels were ever misappropriated or mishandled,” Avenatti said. “She received millions of dollars’ worth of legal services and we spent huge sums in expenses. She directly paid only $100.00 for all that she received. I look forward to a jury hearing the evidence.” The denial came after ABC News reported prosecutors in the Southern District of New York plan to file new charges against Avenatti...

Compare the legal backgrounds of Harvard's Alan Dershowitz versus sleazy porn lawyer Michael Avenatti. Who has the more distinguished career? Yet CNN chose Avenatti over Dershowitz for the go-to person for legal analysis of the Trump-Russia collusion probe. Why? Well, despite Avenatti falling way short in legal background compared to Dershowitz what qualified him to be an almost daily guest on CNN for a long period last year was that he promised the imminent demise of the presidency of Donald Trump. Alan Dershowitz described to Howard Kurtz on Fox News' MediaBuzz on Sunday how CNN which characterizes itself as the...

Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder claimed Friday that any “competent” prosecutor would be able to make a successful obstruction of justice case against President Trump based on the findings outlined in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. “ANY competent public corruption prosecutor would bring obstruction charges against Trump/and win. Only reason Mueller did not was because of the flawed DOJ [Justice Department] restriction against indicting a sitting President. He said so (below). Congress now has a constitutional responsibility,” Holder wrote on Twitter.

Michael Avenatti, former attorney for Stormy Daniels, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in California on 36 counts, including embezzling from a paraplegic, court documents released Thursday show. Avenatti, 48, faces charges of wire fraud, failure to collect and withhold payroll taxes, attempting to obstruct the IRS, failing to file tax returns, aggravated identity fraud, bank fraud and false testimony under oath during bankruptcy. The lawyer was arrested March 25 on some of the counts, but the 61-page indictment filed by a federal grand jury late Wednesday "significantly broadens the scope of the case," according to a statement...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Attorney Michael Avenatti has been charged in a 36-count federal indictment alleging he stole millions of dollars from clients, did not pay his taxes, committed bank fraud and lied in bankruptcy proceedings. Avenatti, 48, was indicted late Wednesday by a Southern California grand jury on a raft of additional charges following his arrest last month in New York on two related counts and for allegedly trying to shake down Nike for up to $25 million. The attorney best known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against President Trump said Thursday on Twitter that he...

Federal prosecutors in California plan to level fresh charges against Michael Avenatti on Thursday, marking yet another legal blow for the controversial celebrity attorney known for representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The U.S. attorney’s office in the Central District of California scheduled a press briefing in conjunction with the IRS to “announce the filing of a 36-count indictment naming Michael Avenatti.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) last month sent a letter to former Fox News host Diana Falzone asking for her to provide documentation about the conservative cable network's decision not to run reports about Stormy Daniels' alleged affair with President Donald Trump. Although Falzone has a Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA) with Fox, her attorney said NDA's exclude government investigations.According to a report from The New Yorker, Falzone had specific details about Daniels' alleged affair with Trump and the amount he allegedly paid her to keep her quiet. “She had the amount, she had the corporate names that the original settlement was...

Attorney Michael Avenatti, who was arrested by the Southern District of New York for alleged extortion late last month, continued his crusade against Nike. The attorney accused Nike of paying college basketball’s top stars and already listed two players who he alleges Nike paid before they were college stars. Avenatti accused former Arizona star DeAndre Ayton, of the Phoenix Suns, of accepting payments from Nike before he committed to the school. Not long after, he went after another Pac-12 star. Avenatti says that Nike also paid former Oregon player Bol Bol. Late Friday night, Avenatti dropped the biggest name in...

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are demanding to know why Fox News did not publish a story prior to the 2016 election about an alleged affair years before between porn star Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump. House Committee on Oversight and Reform chair Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) wrote to former Fox News reporter Diana Falzone last month demanding that she turn over any documents relating to Trump’s alleged extramarital affairs. An article in the New Yorker last month alleged that Fox News executive Ken LaCorte spiked the story to protect Trump — a claim LaCorte has vehemently denied,...

The week following Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s exoneration of President Trump was, as the president might say, “so beautiful, so yuge, so fantastic.” And it’s not just Mueller. Persistent Trump antagonist Michael Avenatti has been indicted by the Southern District of New York (SDNY) for blackmail and fraud. The attempt by House Democrats to override the president’s veto of a resolution disapproving of his emergency powers failed. Network executives are now clueless about how to fill up time on shows once dedicated to goading Trump over Russia. All things considered, the president couldn’t have had a better week. However, perhaps...

Billionaire heiress Clare Bronfman fainted in court after being asked by the judge if she had secretly hired Michael Avenatti as her attorney. She was taken out of a federal courtroom on a stretcher and the hearing was rescheduled for today. The Seagrams heiress is on trial for offenses related to her involvement in the SEX-SLAVE CULT DOS. She is reportedly a leader of the controversial NXIVM sex cult. Bronfman was joined in court by lawyer Mark Geragos who sources say is the co-conspirator in Avenatti’s Nike extortion case. Although Avenatti has not submitted paperwork attesting to being an attorney...