Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Ukraine gamble pays off: Republicans face little backlash in primaries

How Jim Jordan tried to connect the dots on Biden’s $8 million book deal

‘Never Trump?’ ‘Never Biden’ voters might loom larger.

Would you eat this weird sandwich? Barry Enderwick would. 

She finished chemo then got a medical degree: ‘The dream is real now’

Puppy abandoned with heart-rending note is adopted, named Minerva

The world’s coolest hotels want to tell you a story

6 Airbnb red flags to spot before you make a booking mistake

Flying budget airlines might not be as cheap as it seems

Kyle Finnegan’s rare hiccup helps Phillies to a 4-3 win in 10 innings

Joey Gallo returns, but Nats endure another quiet offensive night

Walter Johnson’s jersey from 1920 showdown with Babe Ruth sold at auction

Biden’s false claim that inflation was 9 percent when he took office

Did Obamacare ‘massively’ increase the cost of health care?

Ask Amy: Should my husband get a say in what I do with my inheritance?

Carolyn Hax: Friends say to break other plans to avoid offending new man

Miss Manners: Gag gift falls flat

In photos: The 149th running of the Preakness Stakes

Book Tour: At home with Amor Towles

Gov. Doug Burgum speaks in support of Trump

Russia shows resilience. There is more to do for Ukraine.

Trump promises tax cuts and fewer rules. CEOs shouldn’t fall for it.

Tariffs against China hamstring the transition to a clean energy future

Top White House aide to meet Netanyahu, who is under political pressure

The other side of Punta Cana: A crackdown on Haitians

Mexican taquería’s new Michelin star puts street eats on par with gourmet food

Blue Origin to fly again as space tourism struggles to get off the ground

Boeing delays spaceflight again as it continues to struggle with leak

Why this company’s biggest fans turned against it

Trump

See more coverage in your recommendations

Get the weekly Campaign Moment newsletter

Set alerts for major election developments

Election 2024

The Campaign Moment newsletter

Politics alerts

Ten weeks ago, Michael Avenatti was a California lawyer known for his successes in class-action lawsuits. Then he sued President Trump on behalf of adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and — through an extraordinarily aggressive media campaign — parlayed a narrow dispute about a one-night stand into a ­news-cycle-dominating assault on the president of the United States.

The take-no-prisoners approach has turned Avenatti into a darling of the political left, which is hungry for anti-Trump heroes and gleeful at the notion that the president could be taken down by a porn star. Many of Avenatti’s fans believe he is just as likely to unearth damaging revelations about Trump as special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is leading the probe into Russian influence in the 2016 election.

To become one of Trump’s chief adversaries, Avenatti has carved a Trumpian path. He taunts his opponents. He uses Twitter to make explosive accusations. And he is omnipresent on cable news.

Yet Avenatti’s tactics and visibility may carry risks that could undermine his ability to represent his client, who is suing longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen and the president to be released from a non-disclosure agreement. Scrutiny of his business record and of his motives has provided grist for distracting headlines in recent days. And his publication last week of Cohen’s banking history — hard-to-get information touching on some of the most sensitive issues before the White House — could jeopardize his ability to represent Daniels in court, some experts say.

“Nothing he has been doing in the last four to six weeks with his multiple television appearances advances the interests of his client in the California action,” said Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor who specializes in ethics. “He’s catapulted himself to be the story. There are dangers when a lawyer becomes so publicly vocal.”

Gillers described Avenatti’s media presence as highly unusual for an American lawyer, not only because of his frequent television appearances but also because his arguments are more sweeping than his client’s narrow complaint. “I really cannot think of an equivalent,” he said.

The spotlight has brought attention to Avenatti’s past.

In recent days, news <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stormy-daniels-lawyer-michael-avenatti-tullys-coffee-lawsuits-2018-5" >accounts</a> have examined his ownership stake, along with actor Patrick Dempsey, in the parent company of the Seattle-based chain Tully’s Coffee. The chain closed stores in March, a year after IRS liens of $5 million were filed against the parent company. Avenatti said in March that he had sold his stake and was serving as general counsel, and he has attributed the liens to “payroll companies that failed to do their job.”

Other accounts have detailed Avenatti’s financial disputes with partners at his former law firm. That firm emerged from bankruptcy last month after agreeing to pay $4.85 million — guaranteed by Avenatti — to a former partner, court records show. Avenatti called the bankruptcy “completely irrelevant.”

“I’m not a candidate for public office or a party to the lawsuits against Mr. Trump,” Avenatti said of questions about his business record. “Who cares?”

Last week, Cohen said that because Avenatti published his private banking transactions, he should not be permitted to represent Daniels in a federal court in New York. Daniels is seeking to intervene in the case, which involves material seized by the FBI in an April 9 raid of Cohen’s office and residences. The raid captured records relating to a $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels shortly before the 2016 election to secure her silence about her alleged affair with Trump.

In an interview, Avenatti rejected the notion that he has gone too far, saying that he acts in the best interest of his client and that the strategy is working.

“I don’t think we’ve taken a risky approach at all,” Avenatti said. “We’ve been aggressive, but I also think we’ve been strategic and thoughtful, and without that approach, we wouldn’t be where we are now. We’ve created a situation where the other side continues to make mistake after mistake.”

[Trump acknowledges his lawyer was reimbursed after payment to Stormy Daniels]

Plenty of other lawyers have taken turns in the spotlight when trying high-profile cases. Avenatti is different because of the way he has elevated a discrete lawsuit into part of the national daily conversation, according to experts who praised his media tour as effective advocacy for his client.

“He’s done a brilliant job of painting her as a very sympathetic party, and that’s no small task given her history,” said Deborah Rhode, a professor at Stanford University’s law school who has donated to Democratic candidates, including Hillary Clinton in 2015. “He comes across as consistent and credible and single-minded in his concern for his client’s interest.”

Yet, in some quarters, Avenatti has become a subject of escalating suspicion. Mark Penn, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, last week asked in the Hill publication whether Avenatti is truly representing his client as a lawyer or “just using her as cover to wage a political operation.” Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked the same question on her show, all but accusing Avenatti of acting as a Democratic operative.

Avenatti responded forcefully on Twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/994628873999605762" >saying</a> he is paid only by Daniels and a <a href="https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stormy/" >crowdfunding campaign</a> that has raised more than $485,000. “No political party or PAC is funding this effort. No left wing conspiracy is behind this. And no big fat cat political donors are leading the charge,” he wrote. “Get over it.”

[Michael Avenatti, the adrenaline-fueled lawyer taking on President Trump]

Perhaps his most un­or­tho­dox move involved the decision to publicize the details of Cohen’s banking transactions. Under the old rules of Washington, a lawyer might have leaked that sensitive information to a trusted journalist who would vet it and publish it, perhaps in a way that could not be traced to the lawyer. 

But this is the Trump era. Avenatti turned to Twitter. 

The upside: He ignited a media firestorm as journalists scrambled to report a scoop that reverberated for days, yielding revelations damaging to both Cohen and his clients. The president’s fixer had<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-attorney-michael-cohen-was-hired-by-us-affiliate-of-russian-company/2018/05/08/12a218c8-52f6-11e8-abd8-265bd07a9859_story.html?utm_term=.32c69375a9fd" > accepted a half-million dollars</a> from the U.S.-based affiliate of a company founded by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, money that was deposited into the same bank account Cohen had used to pay Daniels.

In the days since Avenatti dropped his bombshell, leaked <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cohens-600000-deal-with-atandt-specified-he-would-advise-on-time-warner-merger-internal-company-records-show/2018/05/10/cd541ae0-5468-11e8-a551-5b648abe29ef_story.html?utm_term=.0636f3e25acf" >documents</a> showed that the telecommunications giant AT&T had struck a $600,000 deal with Cohen to provide advice on an array of issues before the federal government, including its $85 billion merger with Time Warner. AT&T <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/atandt-ceo-hiring-cohen-as-a-consultant-was-a-big-mistake/2018/05/11/243f57f2-554a-11e8-abd8-265bd07a9859_story.html?utm_term=.e5bbeba36f32" >apologized</a> for its “serious misjudgment” and ousted its top lobbyist.

Pharmaceutical company Novartis said it had erred in paying Cohen $1.2 million for his advice on health care. Both AT&T and Novartis said they had provided information to Mueller’s team as part of the Russia probe.

But there were also downsides. As Cohen’s lawyers noted in their court filing, the dossier contained mistakes, including several transactions by other Michael Cohens. That meant Avenatti had publicized details about the banking histories of people who had nothing to do with Daniels.

Not unlike Trump, Avenatti is loath to apologize. “I don’t agree that it was confidential, per se,” he said. And of the millions of dollars in financial transactions detailed in his dossier, he said, the errors amounted to no more than $25,000.

“Aside from that, our record has been impeccable,” he said. “I don’t regret it.”

He has declined to identify the source of his information. The Treasury Department inspector general <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/treasury-inspector-general-launches-probe-into-possible-leak-of-michael-cohens-banking-records/2018/05/09/d33c2010-5391-11e8-b00a-17f9fda3859b_story.html?utm_term=.511e5e21ae90" >is investigating</a> whether the confidential Suspicious Activity Reports that banks submit to the federal government were leaked.

Avenatti, who is licensed to practice in California, has asked for permission to represent Daniels in New York. Gillers said that while it’s rare for a judge to deny a lawyer’s request to practice out of state, the allegations against Avenatti, if true, could be a valid basis for the New York judge, Kimba Wood, to deny the request. Unlike journalists, he said, lawyers may not use or disclose documents that they know were illegally obtained even if the lawyer does nothing unlawful to get them.

Rhode, of Stanford, agreed that Avenatti could face problems with his request to practice in New York if he cannot satisfy questions about how he obtained the financial information.

If Wood raises questions about how Avenatti obtained the information and he cannot answer them to her satisfaction, “there’s a very good chance she will deny” his request to practice, said Gillers, who has not in recent years given to federal campaigns.

On Monday, Avenatti said in court papers that Cohen’s effort to block him from representing Daniels in New York was “completely devoid of merit.” Avenatti said he has a First Amendment free speech right to publish information about matters of public concern and that Cohen had cited no legal authority to back up his argument.

In an interview, Avenatti said the flow of money to and from Cohen is relevant to Daniels’s case because it involves the same bank account. He said he was “highly confident” he would face no penalty for publishing the information.

Asked about potential professional ramifications, he responded: “Over what? Speaking the truth?”

While in college and later in law school, Avenatti spent five years working for a political consulting firm run by Rahm Emanuel, a Democratic operative who later became President Barack Obama’s chief of staff and is now mayor of Chicago. Avenatti said that while at Emanuel’s firm, he worked on Democratic and Republican campaigns.

After law school, Avenatti worked for lawyer Daniel Petrocelli, who had represented the family of victim Ron Goldman in the O.J. Simpson case, the ­highest-profile trial of its time. Avenatti later worked at a boutique litigation firm in Los Angeles before founding his own firm. In 2005, Avenatti worked on a team of lawyers who sued Trump and the producer of “The Apprentice” on behalf of a man who said they stole his idea for the hit show. The case ended in a settlement.

In an interview, Avenatti said comparing him to the president is “absolutely outrageous.”

“Trump is about form over substance. I may appreciate form, but I also have a hell of a lot of substance,” he said. “Maybe in some ways I have the approach they thought they were getting when they voted for him. . . . Thus far, I don’t think there’s any question as to who has had the better of the fight.”

Alan Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor who has made supportive comments about Trump, said he has no criticism of Avenatti’s strategy — as long as he’s cleared it with Daniels and she’s on board.

“It really depends on what the client wants to accomplish, but I suspect that they’re in tandem,” Dershowitz said. “I think she wants to take down the president.”

In fact, Daniels did suggest Trump should resign in a cameo appearance on “Saturday Night Live” earlier this month. Avenatti said that ousting the president is not the goal of his efforts — but that it might end up being the outcome.

“If the president is, quote, taken down, unquote, he will have no one to blame but himself and Michael Cohen,” Avenatti said. “I do not think the president will serve out his term.”

<email>beth.reinhard@washpost.com</email>

Tom Hamburger contributed to this report.

To Raise a Boy: Classrooms, Locker Rooms, Bedrooms and the Hidden Struggles of American Boyhood

Stanford University, BA in anthropology

University of Alaska Southeast, MA in teaching

University of California at Berkeley, MA in journalism

Emma Brown is an investigative reporter and author of To Raise a Boy. She joined The Washington Post in 2009 and has previously written obituaries and covered education.

Emma Brown

University of Pennsylvania, bachelor's degree in English

Columbia University, master's degree in journalism

Beth Reinhard has been a reporter at The Washington Post since 2017. She previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, National Journal, The Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post. 

Beth Reinhard

The Washington Post

Michael Avenatti

Biden administration

The Fix

The Briefs

Polling

Democracy in America

Politics

iptc-media/politics/political_process

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice

iptc-media/society/values

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/law

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary/court/judge

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/financial_and_business_service/legal_service

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary/court

iptc-media/politics/election

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary/prosecution

iptc-media/politics/government

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary/court/trial_(court)/litigation

iptc-media/society

iptc-media/society/values/ethics

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/financial_and_business_service

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/crime

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice/judiciary/court/trial_(court)

iptc-media/politics

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021- INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Bed Bath & Beyond KWs - INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Exxon Mobil  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Lobbying and Advocacy_legacyaux_tu4

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Bank of America KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Diageo - Johnnie Walker KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/ExxonMobil 03312021 KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

advertising/B2_Business_legacyaux_hws

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL - 12.23.20

advertising/B2_Campaigns and Campaign Finance_legacyaux_l7e

advertising/B2_Civil Law_legacyaux_lpw

advertising/B2_Congressional Elections_legacyaux_r48

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Crime, Law & Justice_legacyaux_xvt

client-blocklists/Client List: Purina KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Citrix Mindfulness

advertising/B2_Government & Policy_legacyaux_mza

advertising/Client Keywords: On Running

advertising/Racing and Nascar Enthusiasts

client-blocklists/BP KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Consulting_legacyaux_s68

advertising/B2_LGBT & Same Sex Marriage_legacyaux_l3o

advertising/B2_Media and Advertising_legacyaux_xym

advertising/B2_Pharmaceuticals_legacyaux_ar0

advertising/B2_Politically Active - DO NOT REMOVE_legacyaux_lmp

advertising/B2_Politics and Policy_legacyaux_pay

advertising/B2_Politics_legacyaux_8f3

advertising/B2_Positive News_legacyaux_hlt

advertising/B2_President and Administration_legacyaux_kxq

advertising/B2_Russia & Putin_legacyaux_F55

advertising/B2_Space_legacyaux_gno

advertising/B2_State Governments_legacyaux_4lq

advertising/B2_Trade and Commerce_legacyaux_ebh

advertising/B2_Young Professional / International Businessman_legacyaux_r5x

client-blocklists/Client List: KPMG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Siemens KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Cisco KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Capital Concerts KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T ALT KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Mercedes KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/FX Excludes All Disney

client-blocklists/Client List: Inpixon KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Boeing KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Google KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Philip Morris KWs - INCLUDES ANY 

client-blocklists/Dupixent neg kws - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Capital One KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY - 1.4.21

client-blocklists/Bank of America Merrill Lynch KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/CME KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Chase KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Office Depot KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: ETrade KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/politics&limit=20

2021 Election: Complete coverage and analysis

Post Politics from The Washington Post is the source for political news headlines, in-depth politics coverage and political opinion, plus breaking news on the biden administration and White House, Congress, the Supreme Court, elections and more.

prism://prism.query/site,/politics/the-fix&limit=6