Former attorney Michael Avenatti joined MSNBC’s “The Beat” on Tuesday for a phone interview from Terminal Island Prison in California.
Avenatti, who was found guilty of stealing money from former clients, obstructing the IRS from collecting payroll taxes and attempting to extort footwear manufacturer Nike, criticized New York State authorities efforts to prosecute former President Donald Trump.
Avenatti said, “I think what I’m about to say is going to surprise a lot of people and that is that, you know, I think this is the wrong case at the wrong time, Ari. I think that the case is, in many ways, stale at this juncture. You’re talking about conduct that occurred some eight years ago. I think the fact that it’s occurring in state court in New York is a mistake. And I think that when you are going to potentially deprive tens of millions of Americans of their choice for the presidency of the United States, whether we agree with those folks or not or regardless of what we may think of Donald Trump, I think it’s a mistake to do it based on a case of this nature.”
He continued, “I don’t think he can get a fair trial in New York. And to the people who claim that in fact he can get a fair trial in New York with a New York jury, I would ask them if they were to go to sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow and found out that the case had been moved to Mississippi or Alabama, would they still think the trial was going to be fair? I think if they were being honest, they would answer no.”
Avenatti added “I advocated for the indictment of then sitting President Trump. I stand by that 100%. I advocated for federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to bring campaign finance charges.”
He concluded, “The problem I have with this case now is first of all, cases are not like fine red wine, Ari. They don’t get better with age. And this case hasn’t gotten better with age. Number two, I don’t believe this case belongs in state court and I think it rests on a legally tenuous theory. Namely, that the crime that was attempted to be covered up was a federal election crime. I think that could be a problem potentially on appeal.”
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