Michael Avenatti Questions Rudy Giuliani's Porn Habits After Trump Lawyer Attacks Stormy Daniels
Michael Avenatti, the lawyer representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had a sexual encounter with President Donald Trump in 2006, took aim at the Rudy Giuliani Monday after he made disparaging comments about the adult film industry.
"I respect all human beings," Giuliani said Thursday. "I even have to respect, you know, criminals. But I'm sorry I don't respect a porn star the way I respect a career woman or a woman of substance or a woman who has great respect for herself as a woman and as a person and isn't going to sell her body for sexual exploitation."
He added of Daniels, "I mean, she has no reputation. If you're going to sell your body for money, you just don't have a reputation.'
Giuliani's comments were met with backlash from people in the adult film industry, though the president defended him as he departed for the G-7 Summit. "Rudy is great, but Rudy is Rudy," Trump said. Rudy is doing a very good job actually."
Avenatti responded to the comments on Twitter Monday morning when he said, "Mr. Giuliani: my client deserves an apology for your sexist, disgusting, comments about her and women in general. I strongly suggest you provide one," he tweeted. Are you really taking the position that you have not viewed porn in the last year? Ever hear of something called an IP address?..."
Giuliani doubled down on his comments in an interview with CNN Thursday where he said,"If you're involved in a sort of slimy business, (that) says something about you —says something about how far you'll go to make money," he said. "Our real point about her is that she's not just generally un-credible, she's un-credible from the point of view of wanting to get money. She's a con artist."
Avenatti initially responded to Giuliani's remarks on Saturday when he called for evidence that would prove that Giuliani does watch porn. "I want to test Mr. Giuliani's claims of being adamantly against pornography and having no use for adult film stars," he said. "If anyone can provide me with any evidence of him voluntarily viewing pornography, I will protect you as a source and publish it. Let's PROVE the hypocrisy."
Avenatti's client, Stormy Daniels, alleged she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament and that she was threatened afterward by an unknown man who told her to not to talk about the incident.
Her lawsuit centers around a $130,000 payment made to Daniels by Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer, shortly before the 2016 election. According to Daniels, the money was sent to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with President Trump in 2006.
Trump has denied having any sexual encounter with Daniels. In May, he tweeted the payment to Daniels, as well as a non-disclosure agreement sent to her by Cohen, were "common among celebrities and people of wealth" and was sent "to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her."
