# I'm wondering if avenatti might not be such a bad choice for president **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 3, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668 "2018-09-03T02:54:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/41 "2018-09-04T01:56:40Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > It took him a year to get health care passed because him and the democrats kept hoping the GOP would contribute, when all they did was obstruct. …this isn’t how it happened. You have literally rewritten the history books. A year to get landmark healthcare legislation passed isn’t very long at all. The democrats didn’t “hope” the GOP would contribute, the GOP did contribute and they didn’t just “obstruct.” In another thread I posted what I considered to be the qualities needed by someone who will contest the next presidential race: > [@Which 2020 Democrat CAN defeat Trump?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-2020-democrat-can-defeat-trump/818218/107): > > **Integrity**. And I mean Obama-level integrity. No skeletons in the closet. And if there are “skeletons” then they’ve been dealt with openly and publicly. No ammunition for the alt-right and surrogates. That won’t stop “birther tactics” and the like, but it will mitigate them. Policy positions based on honestly held and well-reasoned belief and not on “what they think” will get them votes, changing positions as the wind changes. > > **Moxy**. Won’t back down from a fight. Strong support base (family, friends, etc) because the campaign will be soul-destroying, relentless, slog. Quick-witted. Smart. > > **Street-fighter**. Its going to get dirty. I’m not saying they need to “get dirty in response.” But the primary Republican weapon in the next election (as it was in the last) is the Talking Point. “The Deplorables” comment was an effective and devastating Talking Point last election. They need to be tackled head-on and destroyed, not allow them to fester and linger. Make them pivot from point to point. Turn every attack around and throw it back in their face. > > **A Proven Leader**. Someone with a track record of being a thoughtful yet decisive leader, who commands respect not out of fear but because they earned it. > > In addition to all of that, whoever gets picked won’t succeed without: > > **100% support.** Whoever gets the nomination gets the support. 100%. No crying in your milk. No voting third party. No dragging the feet. The world can’t afford another 4 years of Trump. The world will not be the same if we get 4 more years of this Republican Party that has ceded control to the worst person in the world. So no fighting. Get out and spread the word and get out and vote. Follow the rules of your state, get people enrolled and get them to vote. Avenatti passes the streetfighter test. He doesn’t strike me as having a lot of moxy: he’s street smart not book smart and doesn’t strike me as particularly quick witted. He’s unproven as a leader. We don’t know how decisive he can be. And I think he will fail the integrity test. There are skeletons in his closet. He isn’t particularly charismatic. I could see him getting “out-flanked” regularly by the Republicans: he just doesn’t have the experience. If you think Obama “was a pussy” and was regularly “outsmarted” (reality check: he wasn’t) then wait to see what happens when you throw a political neophyte into the dragons den. He will try and win unwinnable battles. Focus on the wrong issues. They will eat him alive. And the country will suffer for it. So no: Avenatti isn’t a good candidate. If he got the nomination then I hope that everybody would vote for him. But he certainly isn’t the best for the job, I wouldn’t rank him in the top 50. I’d vote for Jon Stewart ahead of Avenatti. Oprah over Avenatti. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/42 "2018-09-04T03:59:44Z")
According to this article dated May 27, 2018, Avenatti filed for bankruptcy and was hit with a $10M judgement against him for not meeting the terms of the bankruptcy. He also has a string of tax issues that he says have been resolved but were still in public records last year. When this hit broadcast news, he went very silent for a while. He has blamed the payroll firm for the tax issues. There was also a controversy about how the firm got pushed into bankruptcy, which deals with a relatively small debt contested by a guy who had a judgment that he didn’t want to discuss on camera. [Law firm of Stormy Daniels’ attorney hit with $10-million judgment](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-avenatti-bankruptcy-20180522-story.html) > [@](#): > > A law firm of Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti was hit with a $10-million judgment Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after he broke his promise to pay $2 million to a former colleague. > . . . > To settle his law firm’s bankruptcy, Avenatti personally guaranteed in December that it would pay Frank $4.85 million. But he and Eagan Avenatti failed to pay the first $2 million installment that was due last week, triggering Tuesday’s judgment. > > The firm is also delinquent on $440,291 in back taxes, penalties and interest that Avenatti promised would be paid last week, Assistant U.S. Atty. Najah Shariff told the bankruptcy judge. > > Avenatti and his firm had accepted the deadline under an agreement reached with the Internal Revenue Service in January. It requires Eagan Avenatti to pay the IRS a total of $2.4 million. > > More than half of that was for payroll taxes that the law firm withheld from employees but did not turn over to the government. Avenatti, who has blamed the lapse on an unnamed payroll company, was personally responsible for holding the money in trust for the IRS, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Since then, he’s settled with the IRS for $800K in a court case where the media was not allowed. His future earnings are frozen until his debt to Frank is paid. Stormy Daniels’ crowdfunded attorney’s fees might also be held. [Avenatti firm settles case with the IRS for $800,000, tries to bar media from some proceedings](https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/politics/avenatti-settlement-irs/index.html) [Lawyer moves to seize Stormy Daniels’ crowdfunding cash in Avenatti spat](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-stormy-daniels-avenatti-20180613-story.html) There have been allegations of shady dealings in all of this. I’d prefer to have a candidate who _hasn’t_ filed for bankruptcy and blamed it on someone else for a change. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/43 "2018-09-04T10:48:00Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > According to this article dated May 27, 2018, Avenatti filed for bankruptcy and was hit with a $10M judgement against him for not meeting the terms of the bankruptcy. He also has a string of tax issues that he says have been resolved but were still in public records last year. I dunno. The Clintons’ whitewater deal seems a lot more complex and shady than this. It sounds like the kind of simple accounting error and one-time bad luck that will eventually befall anyone responsible for a multi-million dollar business. Vetting, should it ever be required, should be straightforward. (Contrast with Trump’s byzantine network of offshore shell companies). So it’s definitely cause for further examination, but I wouldn’t see it as an automatic disqualifier. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/44 "2018-09-04T11:05:49Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’ll save y’all a click by transcribing that list: > > 1. Bernie Sanders > 2. Elizabeth Warren > 3. Joe Biden > 4. Kamala Harris > 5. Cory Booker > 6. Kirsten Gillibrand > 7. Chris Murphy (junior Senator from Conn.) > 8. Terry McAuliffe > 9. Deval Patrick > 10. Sherrod Brown > 11. Andrew Cuomo > 12. Eric Holder > 13. Mitch Landrieu (Mayor of New Orleans) > 14. Oprah Winfrey > 15. Steve Bullock (Gov. Montana) Excepting Bullock, that’s a pretty sad list of names. > [@](#): > > If that’s not enough choices WaPo adds eight “Worth watching” names: > Julián Castro > Jerry Brown (will be almost 83 on Inauguration Day) > John Hickenlooper > Amy Klobuchar > Eric Garcetti > Jeff Merkley > Howard Schultz (ex-CEO Starbucks) > Luis V. Gutiérrez > Evidently WaPo isn’t enthused about our Draft Bill McRaven movement! Garcetti looks decent. Where are all the ladies? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/45 "2018-09-04T11:54:06Z")
The presidency is not an entry-level position. One needs some experience in the legislative or gubernatorial arenas before one has the chops to consider a run at the White House. We’ve seen what a disaster the Orange Buffoon has been, I’m not exactly champing at the bit and saying “God yes! We should do the same!” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/46 "2018-09-04T13:32:19Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I want to throw a flag on this play. Trump’s executive experience is actually very limited. In the end, the Trump organization is really a small family business centered on a handful of people mostly creating licensing deals. Was is successful? It appears so. But those sorts of deals are really signs of sales ability, not executive leadership. According to CNN Trump enterprises employs a lot of people, good. But most of them are far removed from where Trump was. Emphasis added. Sounds like the federal government. Presidents are insulated from almost everyone who works in the executive branch of government. > [@](#): > > And, for that matter, I’d like to put a hole in the ‘we need a businessman’ argument. Running a business is specifically a for-profit process. I’ve run them. I know. I agree. To a point. I don’t think business experience is automatically good, but I don’t think it’s automatically bad either. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/47 "2018-09-04T13:49:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > … But being a pussy is worse than being inexperienced. .. This is a surprising comment coming from a liberal partway through President Trump’s first term. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/48 "2018-09-04T13:55:10Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m puzzled someone like Jon Tester is never on these lists - Dem from a Midwestern agricultural state. Did he do something really nasty that disqualifies him or is it just that he isn’t interested? He strikes me as someone who could appeal to a lot of the disaffected types who voted for Trump. > > (Honestly, I would prefer someone like Biden or Jerry Brown but those guys are just too old for me to take either seriously for a 2020 run.) The Dem party today can’t stomach the thought of a moderate. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/49 "2018-09-04T15:04:58Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I don’t think business experience is automatically good, but I don’t think it’s automatically bad either. Depends on the business. One that’s good at the details of delivering a service to individuals would be useful preparation for being in charge of an agency that’s primarily about that: but not necessarily much help in assessing and developing strategic objectives in, say, foreign policy or environmental protection. One that’s run through complicated financial engineering and asset-sweating wouldn’t be much help for either, and would just enable the building up of problems for a successor leadership. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/50 "2018-09-04T15:28:42Z")
God no! The solution to Trump is not “Left Wing Trump”. Being an asshole who hates the same people I do is not enough. What does this guy know about foreign policy? What are his economic plans? Can he get anyone in Washington to work with him, or are all of his lofty goals going to begin and end on twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/51 "2018-09-04T17:15:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Because you think he would be a good President…or because you think the Republicans could kick his ass? Neither. To paraphrase Rick Blaine’s answer to Annina Brandel’s question about what sort of man Louis Renault was… He’s just like every Democrat, only more so. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/52 "2018-09-04T21:25:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **HurricaneDitka** : > > The Dem party today can’t stomach the thought of a moderate. Yup, they prefer conservatives like Obama and Clinton. And being a pussy might or might not be worse than being inexperienced, but being both is worst of all, as demonstrated by Trump. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/53 "2018-09-04T22:47:49Z")
It would definitely be fun to see Avenatti take on Trump in a debate and probably out-taunt him. And I so wish for a Democratic badass but Avenatti probably isn’t the guy. I see a lot of people dismissing the potential of outsider candidates citing Trump’s performance but I hope you all keep an open mind. Trump’s problem with experience was infinitely compounded buy his inability and unwillingness to see and correct his staggering ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/54 "2018-09-04T22:56:41Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > It took him a year to get health care passed because him and the democrats kept hoping the GOP would contribute, when all they did was obstruct. The D’s needed 60 votes for ACA to pass the Senate, _ **because every single R always voted against it** _. It didn’t take them one year, nor one month to pass ACA; I think they passed it _ **the very first day** _ that 60 D’s could appear on the Senate floor and be allowed to vote. This was just a few years ago — have you forgotten already? (IIRC there would have been a 60-vote opportunity in Spring 2009 but Al Franken was denied his vote by GOP chicanery.) > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I will always echo the refrain that we need a smart person with political experience and some record of public service. > > However, let’s look at the recent record of US presidents: > [ul] > [li]Trump, imbecile in every way except for self-promotion and arse-covering.[/li][li]Obama, an academic with 2 years as a senator and a bit of whatever community organizing is. That he was an exemplary president was just plain dumb luck. Failed to see the bruising street fight for what it was.[/li][li]Bush the Lesser, Yale C-student, Air National Guard no-show, and good-old-boy-finagled governor of Texas whose main qualification seemed to be owning a baseball team.[/li][li]Bill Clinton, governor, Rhodes scholar, shady attorney, Oval Office fellatee[/li][li]Bush the Greater, first of his name, former VP and actual Navy veteran[/li][li]Ronald Reagan, film actor, liar, and I assume a good former governor of California.[/li][/ul] > > It appears that America has a vanishingly small record of drafting political valedictorians for the presidency in recent history. I follow Avenatti on Twitter and he seems to be highly principled, laser-focused on the issues that Democrats want but seem to waffle on, whip-smart, and media savvy. I could live with that. > For now I like Kamala Harris, but if it should come down to Avenatti or Trump, I won’t be holding my nose when I vote for Avenatti. This is a rather one-sided view of America’s Presidents. Your cite for “shady attorney”? A giant political witchhunt that found Zero? With a Z? Bahhh! (Toeing the FauxNews garbage like this, don’t expect others to bother with your posts in future.) I’m surprised you didn’t mention that Washington and Jefferson were among the U.S.’ largest slaveowners, and Lincoln was perhaps the biggest American mass murderer ever. Harry Truman was widely regarded as a corrupt political stooge. You include “a bit of whatever community organizing is” on Obama’s resume but neglect to mention that he was an (untenured) constitutional law professor for 12 years. I’m curious what “value” you think you added compared with leaving that part of your post compeletely blank. Perhaps we deserve a more balanced look at the qualifications of those who have served as POTUS. Of 44 men who have served as U.S. President - 14 had served as State Governor, - 10 had served long terms as U.S. Secretary State or Vice President, - 6 had significant heroized careers as General, - 2 (Taft and Hoover) were experienced and admired cabinet members and more. You wouldn’t be blamed for wanting to look at these resumes in more detail, but almost 3/4 of Presidents had one of these key “bullets.” To keep the counts consistent, only one “bullet” is credited above to each President, e.g James Monroe served as both Secretary of State and Governor of Virginia, but is only listed once. Only nine other men were elected President: Seven out of these nine – all except Trump and Lincoln – had been elected Senator. (Some of these were also Generals, but excluded from the first list which includes only Generals who were nationally admired _as Generals_.) After the Seven Senator-Presidents, I show Lincoln and the three unelected Presidents, followed by one outlier and one proposed outlier. Pierce - Brig. General, Senator, anti-abolitionist B. Harrison - Brevet Brig. Gen, Senator Harding - newspaperman, Lieut. Governor, Senator Obama - Law Professor, Senator Kennedy - Senator Truman - Senator Garfield - General, Congressman, elected Senator Lincoln - political leader, Congressman Arthur (elected VP) - anti-slavery lawyer, acclaimed Quartermaster-General Fillmore (elected VP) - briefly State Comptroller, briefly Chairman of Ways & Means Ford (unelected) - Congressman, political leader Trump - corrupt businessman, TV reality show host Avenatti - plaintiff’s attorney, race-car driver Yes, it’s not hard to argue that Avenatti might be a better President than Trump. Among the sober that might be called a “tautology.” And I guess I’d like a case of hemorrhoids if the alternative were dengue fever. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/55 "2018-09-04T23:17:41Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Oops, you’re right. > > But he’s from LA, which is the New York of California. 🙂 My mistake. Shows what happens when we assume! Orange County, not LA. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/56 "2018-09-05T03:12:40Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This is a surprising comment coming from a liberal partway through President Trump’s first term. I’m confused by your statement. The US is facing serious threats. We need people on our side willing to play hardball to face those threats. I wish we had people like Mitch McConnell on our side. People like Obama and Schumer are playing a game of politics that went out the window 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/57 "2018-09-05T03:21:58Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I wish we had people like Mitch McConnell on our side. …I’m really fucking glad that we do not. > [@](#): > > People like Obama and Schumer are playing a game of politics that went out the window 30 years ago. Obama was the best fucking President with the most integrity your country has ever had and probably ever will. The problem isn’t at the top. Its at the grass roots. With people like you. Your country \*is \*under threat. Its under threat from dishonest, corrupt, disingenuous people like McConnell. If you want people like him on your side then you aren’t on “my side”. I want nothing to do with people like McConnell. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/58 "2018-09-05T03:48:00Z")
I actually brought this up in another earlier thread (after seeing someone float the idea on FB.) I’m just gonna copy and paste my response there, into here, because it still applies: I definitely like the idea of an Italian-American President as we have obviously never had one before. He has also competed professionally in auto racing; he actually placed 7th in the 2015 Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, believe it or not. For him to be taken seriously as a candidate he needs to spend the next two years working very publically on various projects that will get his name out there to be associated with someone other than “Stormy Daniels’ lawyer.” If he ran against Trump, Trump would (obviously) fight really, really dirty to try to tarnish his image and just generally throw him off his game. He apparently had a very nasty divorce last year, and if he’s a high-flying lawyer/race car driver, he probably has a closet full of women - obviously, Trump does too, and in worse ways, but that’s something that could potentially be thrown at him. The concept of pot calling the kettle black does NOT EXIST in the mind of Donald Trump, so if he dug up any dirt on Avenatti regarding his marriage, or accusations of ANY kind of sexual licentiousness or big-ego behavior that might skirt the law in some way, they will be thrown at him hard. What he needs to do is NOT APOLOGIZE FOR ANYTHING and just dig in and not even comment, if possible. Apparently he had a custody battle over their kids - this is absolutely something that Trump would use against him. There is nothing the guy won’t do to win. I could easily see him taunting Avenatti about his divorce, the fact that his wife changed the locks on her house and tried to have him arrested, etc. That’s the kind of thing that can rattle someone to the core, and anyone going up against Trump cannot ever appear to be rattled. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/59 "2018-09-05T03:53:50Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Seriously, though, spare us yet another round of amateur hour and cough up the most bland, grey policy wonk one could possibly imagine. I’ve have enough excitement in my Presidential politics, for the time being. Oh yeah, definitely, like Tim Kaine, right? Great idea. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668/60 "2018-09-05T03:54:53Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …Obama was the best fucking President with the most integrity your country has ever had and probably ever will. … You realize you’re talking about [the guy who told the “Lie of the Year” in 2013](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/dec/12/lie-year-if-you-like-your-health-care-plan-keep-it/), right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-wondering-if-avenatti-might-not-be-such-a-bad-choice-for-president/820668.md?page=4)