# Why is Michael Avenatti Doing All This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 9, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876 "2018-05-09T19:54:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/21 "2018-05-09T21:46:49Z")
He’s thinking about running in 2020. (Not entirely joking) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/22 "2018-05-09T21:54:03Z")
Fame and notoriety can be easily converted into money, if you want money. If you’re a washed up porn star, I’m sure you want money. And becoming famous is a great way to do so, if you don’t mind prostituting yourself. And hey, former porn star. So there you go. And some people also enjoy being famous, which should come as no surprise. Your lawyer can represent your interests, and your interests might not always be “I want to end up with as much money as possible.” Take for example Cohen’s work for Trump. Trump handed Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money. Why would he do that? He ended up $130,000 poorer. Does that mean his lawyer did not represent his interests? No, it means Trump valued Stormy Daniels shutting up more than he valued $130,000. So maybe Stormy Daniels values seeing herself talked about on TV all day every day more than she values some hypothetical cash payment. Or to put it a bit differently, the value of the cash settlement it would take to get her and her lawyer to fuck the fuck off is some really really big number now. And paying that amount wouldn’t bury the story anyway. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/23 "2018-05-09T21:57:33Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > He’s thinking about running in 2020. > > (Not entirely joking) He’d do better with a female running mate. Got any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/24 "2018-05-09T22:01:35Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > This. Clearly, you feel quite strongly about something. As Eugene V. Debs is my witness, I have no idea what, perzackly. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/25 "2018-05-09T22:43:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Clearly, you feel quite strongly about something. As Eugene V. Debs is my witness, I have no idea what, perzackly. what you meant by this? The part I underlined. It makes no sense (to me) > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by elucidator > OK, let’s say his intentions are admirable, in the sense of patriotic, civic-minded. Then he should have found another route to have them be public. Absitively, posolutely, this shit should be dragged out into the sunlight, but he was not the right person to do it. Hard to imagine anyone wronger. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/26 "2018-05-09T22:53:17Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Fox News blacks out bombshell Michael Cohen revelations during 3 hours of primetime coverage > [https://thinkprogress.org/fox-news-suppresses-bombshell-michael-cohen-revelations-trump-2d9858943036/](https://thinkprogress.org/fox-news-suppresses-bombshell-michael-cohen-revelations-trump-2d9858943036/) They’re worried that if they report, people might decide. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/27 "2018-05-09T23:39:21Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I’m also not seeing how Avenatti’s latest revelation advances the cause of getting Daniels out of the NDA or finding the person who allegedly threatened her. However, the underlying reason Daniels wanted to be released from the NDA was so that she could go public with her story, which is presumably damaging to Trump. It seems to me that she was always motivated ultimately by a desire to give Trump a black eye (out of personal or political grievance, I don’t know). My guess is that Avenatti signed up for this at first because he likes attention, likes lawyering, and dislikes Trump. Then at some point Daniels and Avenatti realized that they could give Trump even more and bigger black eyes with the material they were turning up. > > Avenatti is a showboat and probably a egomaniac. But he seems to be a good lawyer; he’s rich; and he likes adrenaline (he also races cars). Sounds like just the kind of guy that would like to be the guy to take down the President of the United States. For her part, Daniels once said in a news conference (paraphrasing) “taking on bullies is kind of my thing”. She’s taking on the world’s biggest bully while behaving in a much more mature and responsible way than he is. I speculate that she is enjoying this opportunity to legitimize sex work along with kneecapping Trump. > > I don’t think either of them cares much about the NDA at this point. I think they both now see themselves as Making History. Which they are. This. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/28 "2018-05-10T00:00:32Z")
He actually has a decent reason for the latest release with respect to his lawsuit. One hindrance to the lawsuit is Trump and Cohen protecting each other, so Avenatti has to drive them apart. By releasing evidence of potential influence peddling with the White House, the pressure is on Trump to distance himself from Cohen. The public release of all this, rather than passing it on to Mueller, also puts pressure on Republicans to quit insisting this is some baseless witch hunt. Not that it will make a difference to the Republicans, but the guy’s an optimist. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/29 "2018-05-10T00:01:35Z")
Avennatti is already rich. He is responsible for one of the largest [class action awards](https://www.lexislegalnews.com/articles/16322) in history (now, before getting pedantic, the award was later reduced on appeal. Still, getting a jury to award $454 million is no joke. The point is that this guy was already a wealthy and successful person). So, money isn’t needed. What next? Fame? Power? I can easily see why getting this chance would be checking those boxes. > [@Bayard](#): > > I don’t think either of them cares much about the NDA at this point. I think they both now see themselves as Making History. Which they are. I think this is spot on. Sometimes it’s more than money (even if the “more” is “importance”). Also, Stormy is getting [rich](https://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/11/stormy-daniels-is-making-a-lot-of-money-from-trump-publicity.html) off of this. The publicity is just upping her in-person appearance fees (Denver residents, take note: I already see the marquee downtown promoting her arrival in the Summer). If you want to take a really cynical view, then all of this newsmaking is absolutely bettering his client. ---
**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:** [May 10, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/30 "2018-05-10T00:10:59Z")
Money isn’t needed. That’s quaint. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/31 "2018-05-10T00:12:35Z")
How many rich egotists have you ever heard of that reach a certain amount of money and decide it is enough? That they don’t need more? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/32 "2018-05-10T00:21:28Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Money isn’t needed. That’s quaint. Touché. (I don’t think Avenatti is motivated by the billable hours he’s devoting here. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he wasn’t charging her a cent. Guy has already made millions. What he’s earning is fame and, with it, influence and power). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/33 "2018-05-10T01:57:14Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > what you meant by this? The part I underlined. It makes no sense (to me) This is high drama on the civic stage, its kinda silly, and is also grimly important. This news should be out, it is important. Mr Avenatti revealing it almost rebuts itself, he already has a public presence as an enemy of Trump. It weakens credibility. To stretch for an analogy, if Jane Fonda had the Pentagon Papers, and personally revealed them, I would question her judgement. Again. Its important that the truth be told, its also important that it be told effectively. We don’t seem to have a Walter Cronkite, these days. (Look him up, puppy Dopers. And get off my LAN…) ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/34 "2018-05-10T01:59:32Z")
I think he’s star struck. He was already rich and famous, but now he’s on tv every time I turn around. I don’t even hardly watch tv and every time I walk through that room, I’m staring at his mug. So tonight while making dinner, I see Avenatti talking to someone on msnbc ( forget her name, she’s on all the time, around dinner). And she asks Avenatti - why is he doing this with Cohen’s payment? how is all this helping his case? Avenatti replied that this helps because (paraphrasing here) a) it goes to his opponent’s honesty & trustworthiness and b) it goes to Daniels’ argument that she thought she had an agreement with Donald Trump but Donald didn’t sign it, or (supposedly) pay for it, or (depending on who’s talking on what day) even know anything about it. Avenatti’s revelations go to the question of who, precisely, paid Daniels, and why, and how, and was Donald involved in any this. That’s all relevant to Daniel’s argument that the supposed NDA agreement with Donald is invalid. Annoying Donald is its own reward, of course, but there is a legal tactic behind all this. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/35 "2018-05-10T02:33:20Z")
The fact that a former porn star and her lawyer are making the revelations is perhaps legally less forceful, but it forever imprints “Trump=Sleazeball” in the public consciousness. What started as “Trump makes Bill Clinton look clean” has now morphed into “Trump makes Tonya Harding look honorable”. ---
**Author:** ![pdhenry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pdhenry/32/5561_2.png) [@pdhenry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdhenry)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/36 "2018-05-10T10:52:48Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Touché. > > (I don’t think Avenatti is motivated by the billable hours he’s devoting here. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he wasn’t charging her a cent. Guy has already made millions. What he’s earning is fame and, with it, influence and power). Close. He told Rachel Maddow last night that his fee from Stormy Daniels was “de minimus.” He also mentioned a crowdfunding site that’s out there but he was insistent that there’s not some deep pocket in the shadows funding all of his time. (Having been briefly under the mercy of a $200/hour lawyer on retainer I can appreciate how quickly the billable hours add up.) ---
**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:** [May 10, 2018, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/37 "2018-05-10T11:36:56Z")
Although the Michael A. vs Michael C. duel is the top spectacle today, I’m interested in the subthread question: _Is (almost) everyone motivated primarily by money?_ I was surprised to learn some Dopers think the answer is obviously Yes. Sure, many businessmen are strongly motivated by money, and so are some celebrities, e.g. Paris Hilton, famous for being rich. But for a huge portion of humanity, wealth-seeking is very low priority once they have enough; indeed for many it’s low priority even if they don’t have enough. Although doctors are well-paid, I think many become doctors to have a proud benevolent career. This applies to some lawyers as well. I feel sad for people that don’t understand this. I don’t know exactly what motivates Michael Avenatti. Fame? Public service? Fun? But he’s already extremely wealthy; I pity people who assume his primary goal must be further financial gain, whether immediate or long-term. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Money isn’t needed. That’s quaint. > [@Chimera](#): > > How many rich egotists have you ever heard of that reach a certain amount of money and decide it is enough? That they don’t need more? I’m not suggesting Avenatti will turn any income from Trump’s downfall over to charity, but that doesn’t mean money is his main motivation. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/38 "2018-05-10T12:09:22Z")
It’s so rare to see good performance art in the theater of law. Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/39 "2018-05-10T12:42:55Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’m not suggesting Avenatti will turn any income from Trump’s downfall over to charity, but that doesn’t mean money is his main motivation. Are you kidding? I’d _pay_ to see Trump’s downfall. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/40 "2018-05-10T14:17:41Z")
His intentions are to troll Team Trump into making mistakes to help win his present case and to promote himself to increase his profile and thereby his income for future cases. The relative importance of these goals is left as an exercise for the student. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876.md?page=3)