# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/61 "2018-05-11T16:49:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > To follow up on this, Avenatti has gotten Trump to claim he had no knowledge of the payment. If Donald didn’t have any knowledge of the payment, _he_ doesn’t have the right to enforce the NDA because _he_ didn’t pay consideration for the agreement. At common law, a third-party beneficiary has no standing to enforce a contract. > > Cohen would have standing, of course, but Cohen now has his own world of problems resulting from Avenatti’s investigation, and is unlikely to be getting involved by the time the case is tried. What about if the lawyer pays on behalf of the client with the expectation that he will be reimbursed via retainer? (I believe this is one the several versions of what happened.) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/62 "2018-05-11T17:03:21Z")
He’s giving them the business. WTF else do you expect? Is this the dumbest thing I’ve seen here? Lawyers advocating aren’t obscure in their motives. But the main thing I’m seeing is that he knows how to counter the spin from the administration that so far have been left unanswered and unanalyzed because the media is too confused to act in ways that are protective of democracy, and we are in shock as a populace. So why wouldn’t it be up to the GD lawyer to do it and challenge this situation? That’s the way the justice system works. In the end it is to protect democracy. Who else, in what capacity, will do it? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/63 "2018-05-11T18:13:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > To follow up on this, Avenatti has gotten Trump to claim he had no knowledge of the payment. Well, Trump told a bunch of reporters he didn’t know about it. He didn’t say it in court. Does it really matter, legally, if he lied outside court to parties not involved in the agreement? If I tell someone at work “I’m not married,” legally I am very much still married. As to the issue of who’s paying Avenatti, that The Hill piece is the biggest pile of shit I’ve ever seen: > [@The Hill](#): > > (Avenatti is) …saying that he is Daniels’s attorney when someone else entirely is paying for this operation… Aside from the fact that Daniels’s crowdsourcing campaign is VERY public and everyone not living as a hermit in the forest can find out about it in half a minute, the implication that Avenatti may not truly be Daniels’s lawyers is idiotic. IANAL, but even I know that paying a lawyer is NOT what makes them your lawyer, no matter what you saw on Breaking Bad. A lawyer is your lawyer when they advise you as to the law, and Avenatti is clearly advising Daniels as to the law. If that was not the case, you could not have public defenders and pro bono work. I mean, the idea that Avenatti is an egotist who’s in this for his own ends is hardly a huge revelation, but one has to grudgingly admire the ambulance-chser who, for whatever reason, is doing the job of investigative journalism the media should have done two years ago. Like Michelle Wolf’s set at the correspondent’s dinner, I will not be shocked if, eventually, the media turns on Avenatti just because he’s showing them up for failing to do their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/64 "2018-05-11T18:19:15Z")
You’ll have to forgive Republicans for asking who is paying Avenatti and questions like that. They’re just repeating the latest Republican talking points they’re being given by Fox News and other Republican shills who are going out of their way to raise questions (even if the questions are bullshit) and cast doubt on the man. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/65 "2018-05-11T18:36:14Z")
Worth noting in that context that the guy who wrote the linked article asking who is paying for Avenatti is not a Republican but rather a [pollster with a long relationship with both Bill and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn). ---
**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:** [May 11, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/66 "2018-05-11T18:41:56Z")
Funny how one guy with a fairly small staff can uncover dirt, while someone like Devil Nunes with the vast resources of the US Congress could not find a single speck. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/67 "2018-05-11T18:51:37Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Worth noting in that context that the guy who wrote the linked article asking who is paying for Avenatti is not a Republican but rather a [pollster with a long relationship with both Bill and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn). I did notice that, but the thing is, bullshit is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/68 "2018-05-11T19:00:19Z")
That’s very possible, but the “context” I was referring to was the post preceding mine. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/69 "2018-05-11T19:18:13Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Worth noting in that context that the guy who wrote the linked article asking who is paying for Avenatti is not a Republican but rather a [pollster with a long relationship with both Bill and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn). who the fuck cares? does that mean the information uncovered is bad? I’ll never understand this mantra of " a liberal/democrat/lobbyist paid for it, therefore it doesn’t count " thats complete and utter horseshit. Either the information is good or its bad - source of funds to uncover it is completely and totally irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/70 "2018-05-11T19:20:57Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Worth noting in that context that the guy who wrote the linked article asking who is paying for Avenatti is not a Republican but rather a [pollster with a long relationship with both Bill and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn). Worth noting that Avenatti already addressed all of these questions. > **[Statement%20re%20Legal%20Fees.pdf](https://www.dropbox.com/s/bwmfocdimn2uegn/Statement%20re%20Legal%20Fees.pdf?dl=0)** ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/71 "2018-05-11T19:36:03Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > What about if the lawyer pays on behalf of the client with the expectation that he will be reimbursed via retainer? (I believe this is one the several versions of what happened.) If Trump didn’t know about the payment, then that necessarily means that he didn’t read or understand the contract, which means the contract isn’t enforceable. I guess he could say that he was lying when he said he didn’t know about it though. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/72 "2018-05-11T19:38:04Z")
I see on looking around a bit, that Avanetti’s statement yesterday was in response to the Mark Penn article. [https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:4tuVtYgVnrEJ:https://www.yahoo.com/news/michael-avenatti-reveals-paying-stormy-190748700.html+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:4tuVtYgVnrEJ:https://www.yahoo.com/news/michael-avenatti-reveals-paying-stormy-190748700.html+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/73 "2018-05-11T19:50:55Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > If Trump didn’t know about the payment, then that necessarily means that he didn’t read or understand the contract, which means the contract isn’t enforceable. I don’t at all get this line of reasoning, either. You freely sign a contract, it’s on you. If you’re stupid enough to not read some of it, to the point you don’t fully understand it, that’s just too bad. How could it be otherwise? If you let people out of contracts when they said they hadn’t read or understood them, you’d get that all the time. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/74 "2018-05-11T20:28:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t at all get this line of reasoning, either. You freely sign a contract, it’s on you. If you’re stupid enough to not read some of it, to the point you don’t fully understand it, that’s just too bad. How could it be otherwise? If you let people out of contracts when they said they hadn’t read or understood them, you’d get that all the time. I guess it’s made worse by the fact that Trump didn’t sign it, either. So there’s a piece of paper, without his signature, about which he tells everyone that he is unaware of its contents. If it could be shown that he was unaware of it and not just lying, and it doesn’t have his signature, seems to me like it’s not enforceable. ---
**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 11, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/75 "2018-05-11T20:31:22Z")
But the point is, did he sign the contract or not? If he signed it, then he knew or should have known what he was signing, which means his claim he didn’t know what Cohen was up to is ludicrous. If he didn’t sign it, then he didn’t sign it, which means he didn’t sign it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/76 "2018-05-11T20:38:09Z")
I don’t get this either. If he didn’t sign it, couldn’t he just say “I don’t know what you’re talking about, go find David Dennison”. (A little late for that I suppose) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/77 "2018-05-11T22:02:57Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > If Trump didn’t know about the payment, then that necessarily means that he didn’t read or understand the contract, which means the contract isn’t enforceable. Avenatti should ask Trump to read the contract out loud. It would probably be about as cringe inducing as listening to [Floyd Mayweather attempting to read a radio drop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9dMyziICQ). ---
**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 11, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/78 "2018-05-11T22:34:29Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I don’t get this either. If he didn’t sign it, couldn’t he just say “I don’t know what you’re talking about, go find David Dennison”. (A little late for that I suppose) Right, except then there’s no non-disclosure agreement, which means she goes to TMZ and gets ONE MILLION DOLLARS to tell her stories about Donald’s withered penis and short fingers. So is there a valid non-disclosure agreement or not? Trump wants the answer to be “There was a valid and enforceable non-disclosure agreement, but I had nothing to do with it”. Except that doesn’t make sense, does it? ---
**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 12, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/79 "2018-05-12T01:55:17Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Trump wants the answer to be “There was a valid and enforceable non-disclosure agreement, but I had nothing to do with it”. Except that doesn’t make sense, does it? Not to a California judge, certainly. So who’s going to buy Stormy’s new book? ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876/80 "2018-05-12T02:01:50Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I don’t get this either. If he didn’t sign it, couldn’t he just say “I don’t know what you’re talking about, go find David Dennison”. (A little late for that I suppose) There’s a part that identifies Donald Trump aka David Dennison. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-michael-avenatti-doing-all-this/813876.md?page=5)