On Tuesday, MSNBC’s Ari Melber interviewed incarcerated convicted felon Michael Avenatti to get his thoughts on former President Donald Trump’s fast-approaching New York criminal hush money trial.
Avenatti, a disbarred attorney, is currently serving 19 years for extortion, fraud, obstruction, and identity theft. Some of those charges stem from his theft of proceeds from a book by his former client, Stormy Daniels.
The former president faces 34 charges linked to hush money payments made by his ex-fixer to porn actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump is scheduled to head to trial in his New York criminal case on April 15.
Mediaite has more:
“Michael, have you been in touch with D.A. Bragg’s office?” Melber asked. “And what specifically in evidence or logic do you think is wrong with this case?”
“I’m going to decline to answer as to whether I’ve been in touch with either the defense or the D.A.s office,” Avenatti replied. “But let me say this in response to the second part of your question. You know, I think the case has a lot of problems. Now that– I don’t mean to suggest that means that Trump will not be convicted because I think he will be convicted because number one, he’s a criminal defendant in our society. I don’t believe criminal defendants generally get a fair shake.”
Avenatti then echoed attorneys for Trump, who have unsuccessfully attempted to secure a change of venue. He said:
I don’t think that he can get a fair trial in New York. And to the people who claim that in fact, he can get a fair trial in New York with a New York jury, I would ask them, if they were to go to sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow and find out that the case had been moved to Mississippi or Alabama, would they still think the trial was going to be fair?
And I think if they were being honest, they would answer no. So, I don’t think he can get a fair trial in New York.
On Monday, a judge in New York denied a request for a delay in his hush money trial. Trump’s attorneys argued for the trial to be relocated from Manhattan and postponed as they pursue the matter.
Trump’s attorneys argued for the trial to be relocated from Manhattan and postponed as they pursue the matter. His attorneys argued that Manhattan, a well-known liberal bastion, was not an appropriate location for the Republican president’s case. They requested a change of venue to Staten Island, the only borough in New York City that Trump won in both 2016 and 2020.
Trump’s platform (Innocent!): “An independent expenditure” is money spent on political advertising in support of or against a particular candidate. An independent expenditure comes from outside a candidate’s own election organization and is not coordinated with a particular candidate’s campaign, authorized candidate committee or political party committee. Generally, there is no limit placed on independent expenditures and that includes “Soft Money”.[4][5]
“Soft money” is money given to a political party “with no limits attached to the amount that can be received.” Soft money contributions can come from any source, including corporations and unions. These contributions cannot be used to advocate for the election or defeat of a particular candidate.
Stormy Daniels case was part of personal politics and charged as legal expenses since there was a Non-Disclosure agreement agreed to. Nothing to do with his campaign, just was coincidental!!!