Showtime was there to capture the action on video as Stormy Daniels’ attorney hit twitter to reveal that Russians may have provided the funds for her hush-money payment.
On May 8th of this year, Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti dropped what may have been the largest bomb on the Trump administration so far.
“After significant investigation, we have discovered that Mr. Trump’s atty Mr. Cohen received approximately $500,000 in the mos. after the election from a company controlled by a Russian Oligarc with close ties to Mr. Putin. These monies may have reimbursed the $130k payment,” he tweeted.
After significant investigation, we have discovered that Mr. Trump’s atty Mr. Cohen received approximately $500,000 in the mos. after the election from a company controlled by a Russian Oligarc with close ties to Mr. Putin. These monies may have reimbursed the $130k payment.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 8, 2018
The fallout was swift and immediate. The New York Times had this to say about the situation:
After paying off a pornographic film actress and doing other tasks to help his boss win the presidency, Michael D. Cohen was surprised to find that the doors to the White House were mostly closed to him.
Mr. Cohen did not land a hoped-for job in President Trump’s administration — he imagined himself as chief of staff — and, in January last year, he left the Trump Organization, where he had long served as the in-house fixer without a clear portfolio. But he managed to turn what looked like an exile into a lucrative opportunity.
Armed with the self-appointed title of “personal attorney” to the president, Mr. Cohen, who had served as a personal-injury lawyer and owned a taxi business, became seen as the man who could help others gain access to the seat of power that had been denied to him. Major corporations including AT&T, Novartis and the law firm Squire Patton Boggs collectively paid him over $2 million for advice about navigating the suddenly foreign terrain of Mr. Trump’s Washington.
Most of the arrangements remained a secret until Tuesday, when details first appeared in an account released by Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stephanie Clifford, the actress who was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Mr. Trump and is now suing to be released from the agreement. The New York Times confirmed many of Mr. Avenatti’s disclosures through a review of financial records.
As Huffington Post reported today,
Cohen is now embroiled in a scandal over millions of dollars in payments his shell company received in consulting fees, including $500,000 from a firm linked to a Russian oligarch. AT&T also paid Cohen up to $600,000, a move the company later called a “big mistake.”
Showtime Documentary series The Circus: Inside The Wildest Political Show On Earth was there along the way, capturing Avenatti posting his stunning tweet live as their cameras were rolling.
In a tweet promoting the show and showing the clip of Avenatti hitting “send” on his tweet, John Heilemann wrote: “Love him or hate him, @MichaelAvenatti dropped a 5-megaton news bomb this week, and the aftershocks are still reverberating. And @SHO_TheCircus was there to chronicle it from behind the scenes.”
Love him or hate him, @MichaelAvenatti dropped a 5-megaton news bomb this week, and the aftershocks are still reverberating. And @SHO_TheCircus was there to chronicle it from behind the scenes. Check it out tonight to @Showtime tonight at 8pm ET/PT. pic.twitter.com/4ukMoRajLG
— John Heilemann (@jheil) May 13, 2018
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