“This is all about Mr. Avenatti. It’s not about his client. It’s about him and getting himself out there,” Schwartz says. “His court is not the court of law. It’s the court of public opinion. This is all about trying to use this against the president.”
Until last week, Avenatti’s main opposition in the Daniels case was Cohen, the president’s personal fix-it man who might have made Avenatti’s job easier by talking about the $130,000 payment he has said he made to Daniels from his personal funds as part of the nondisclosure agreement. But on March 16, Trump brought in a more formidable lawyer, Charles Harder, whose clients include Melania Trump and Hulk Hogan. Harder won a $140 million judgment that forced Gawker Media into bankruptcy for publishing a story that included a clip from a sex tape starring the professional wrestler.
“A face-off between Avenatti and Harder may be an example of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object,” Turley says. “These are two very good attorneys who are known to be very aggressive.”
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