A California judge on Monday ordered Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti to pay $4.85 million to a lawyer who once did legal work for his former law firm.
The ruling comes after a request by Avenatti to have the matter moved to federal court, which California Superior Court Judge Dennis Landin denied. The judge ordered the so-called “creepy porn lawyer” to pay the money because he had personally guaranteed a settlement with Jason Frank, his former law partner, who contends that Avenatti repeatedly reneged on a multi-million-dollar settlement agreement approved by a bankruptcy court earlier this year.
Avenatti has appealed the ruling.
This decision is just the latest development in a long-running dispute between the two men. The $4.85 million is in addition to a U.S. bankruptcy court judge’s ruling in May ordering Avenatti’s former firm to pay $10 million to Frank.
The Resistance warrior did not appear in court, nor did he file opposing arguments in the case, but, without providing details, he did tell the Associated Press on Monday that Frank owes him $12 million “for his fraud.”
Frank’s attorney, Eric George, called that allegation “more delusional nonsense” and vowed to “immediately start going after” Avenatti’s assets.
“At the end of the day, until he pays this judgment off, it will follow him around for decades,” George told ABC News in an interview after the court ruling.
This has not been a great month for the potential 2020 presidential contender.
Last week a judge threw out the defamation suit against President Trump brought by Stormy Daniels and Avenatti and ordered the porn star to pay the president’s legal fees. Ouch.
He appealed that ruling, too.
Avenatti is also widely regarded as the guy who saved Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court earlier this month. Kavanaugh was on the ropes after two women came forward with credible-sounding (but likely false) accusations that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted them when he was a teenager.
Then Avenatti emerged with a sworn declaration from a woman who made wild claims about the judge being part of serial gang-rape ring at parties in the 1980s. That woke people up to the idea that a coordinated smear job was taking place, and forced the outraged Kavanaugh to finally defend himself with gusto.
Thanks, creepy porn lawyer.
This latest legal setback comes one day after The Daily Beast published an expose alleging that Avenatti has been living it up in luxury while he and his companies owe hundreds of thousands in unpaid taxes.
This Democrat icon should be a shoo-in to win his party’s nomination for president. He’s a perfect fit.
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