The porn lawyer who accused U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of being a gang rapist isn’t such a nice guy himself.
Michael Avenatti, the Daily Beast reported, amassed a personal fortune while leaving behind a trail of tax liens, unpaid bills, a furious ex-wife, and extremely angry business partners. The story detailed the sharp dealing and tax debts of a man who offers himself as possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2020.
Virtually unknown until he sued President Trump for defamation on behalf of porn queen Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti’s profile increased further when he flatly called Kavanaugh a “gang rapist” on the word of a client whose tale turned out to be preposterous.
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But a judge dismissed Daniels’ ridiculous lawsuit, and the client who accused Kavanaugh recanted her own tale.
With those issues resolved, he can concentrate on dealing with the problems detailed in the Daily Beast.
Tax Liens and a Court Judgment
According to the Daily Beast, “tax liens filed in Orange County [California] … show that Avenatti has personally owed at least $1.2 million in federal taxes on top of the corporate debts.”
The webzine “did not find records showing the liens were released, but Avenatti claims both debts were ‘fully paid.’”
As well, the Daily Beast reported:
Civil court filings paint a picture of Avenatti as a hard-charging attorney who enjoyed the luxe life—jetting around the world to race cars with a Saudi prince and treating his wife and their friends to luxury villas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Yet he and his companies owed hundreds of thousands in unpaid taxes and in compensation to one former colleague, who claims Avenatti stiffed him out of millions in law-firm profits.
A review of court documents reveals that Avenatti, his former law firm Eagan Avenatti, and his former company Global Baristas, the majority owner of the Seattle-based Tully’s coffee chain, have owed millions in unpaid federal and state taxes in Washington and California, as well as hundreds of thousands in past-due rent to landlords.
Four days ago, the webzine reported, a landlord in Newport Beach, California, “filed court papers indicating that Eagan Avenatti owes $213,253 in rent as of this month.”
Avenatti told the Daily Beast that he divested himself of Eagan Avenatti some time ago, and “none of those obligations are my responsibility.” Yet in a September 7 answer to the landlord’s complaint, signed by Avenatti himself, he claimed Eagan Avenatti made repairs to the suite and subtracted the cost from the rent. The firm offered to pay the rent due, Avenatti continued, but the landlord “would not accept it.”
As well, “Avenatti testified at a July 25 bankruptcy hearing (from which the media was barred) that Avenatti & Associates now owns a 100 percent stake in Eagan Avenatti.” He said the same thing in a court filing also in July.
But that’s not all. On Monday, a judge in Los Angeles stung Avenatti for $4.85 million in back wages owed to a former associate.
Avenatti’s shenanigans in the coffee business invited a lawsuit from actor Patrick Dempsey.
Avenatti’s Ex
Avenatti’s ex-wife, the Daily Beast reported, said Avenatti’s legal earnings paid for a lavish lifestyle that include “a multimillion-dollar home in Newport Beach, international and domestic travel via private jet, and a collection of art and exotic cars.”
The couple “enjoyed a very extravagant marital lifestyle,” Lisa Storie-Avenatti declared in a divorce court filing. “In October 2011, we bought a home in Laguna for $7.2 million and sold it in September 2015 for $12.6 million.” As well, she wrote, his monthly American Express bill was about $65,000, while Avenatti employed a full-time pilot for $100,000 a year and owned two jets worth $9 million. He raced autos across the planet.
Still, she claimed in the filing, Avenatti stiffed her after they separated while maintaining his jet-setting lifestyle. That move did not work out. In July, the webzine reported, a judge slammed the lawyer with $156,379 in monthly child and spousal support. He also has to pay $215,000 in legal fees.
Bogus Gang Rape Charges
There’s more the story of Avenatti’s money troubles. It suffices to say that the bogus charges against Kavanaugh are no surprise given the report in the Daliy Beast.
As The New American reported, the claims that Kavanaugh and his pals hosted gang rape parties “nearly every weekend during the school year” were preposterous on their face.
They collapsed when Avenatti’s client flatly stated she didn’t know whether he did the things she claimed he did. The woman also had something of a checkered past herself.
Democrats thought Avenatti helped propel Kavanaugh’s confirmation because over-the-top charges of his client polluted the less lurid but still evidence-free claims of his other accusers.
Photo of Michael Avenatti: Luke Harold
