By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Song Radio
BBC - Decrypt - LightRead - Order Affidavit
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 25 – Michael Avenatti's financial affidavit to get a publicly paid lawyer for his Stormy Daniels case, which Inner City Press formally sought to have unsealed for eleven months, were on July 27, 2021 ordered unsealed. Order.
Podcast here. Aug 13 podcast here.
On the weekend before trial there's was a request to delay it, on COVID policy and Constitutional grounds. It was denied.
The trial started on the morning of January 24. Inner City Press live tweet here. It continued in the afternoon, with Stormy Daniels' literary agency Lucas Janklow being cross examined about being introduced to Michael Avenatti at a hotel bar, by Anderson Cooper. Inner City Press live tweeted, thread here; stream here, video here
On January 25, the cross examination of Janklow continues, then an SDNY Special Agent and Avenatti law firm staffer. But in the middle, Federal Defenders said Avenatti may want to fire them and represent himself. Judge Furman said, Not so fast. Inner City Press live tweeted it, thread here
In the afternoon, Avenatti confirmed he wants to represent himself and Judge Furman granted it. He will cross examine Stormy Daniels, then. Inner City Press live tweeted it, thread here and below.
After court on January 25, at 8 pm, the US Attorney Office put in a letter seeking to block Avenatti from questioning Daniels about IRS and child support issues, her previous representation by Keith M. Davidson and other cases Avenatti represented her in. Letter here. It's Avenatti now, who must respond. Watch this site.
Avenatti: There has been a breakdown of communication with my lawyers. I have superior knowledge about what she testified about. I've heard your Honor's rulings on my counsel's performance. I am still technically a member of the bar, I represented myself in California
Avenatti: Judge Selna allowed me to represent myself. Under my 5th and 6th Amendment rights, and under Faretta, I request to represent myself. I am ready to cross examine now. Judge Furman: Do we take this up now? AUSA: We prefer the end of the day.
Judge Furman: Let's deal with it now. You have a right to represent yourself. But it cannot be for delay. It must be timely. I'd like you to know that these Federal Defenders are able. There will be serious consequences if this is mishandled.
Judge Furman: There is no veiled threat here - the choice is yours. But you do not have the right to manipulate these circumstances. You cannot go back and forth.
Judge Furman: This is an important moment in the case. If you decide to represent yourself I will appoint your existing lawyers as stand-by counsel to help you. [Note: Accused CIA leaker Josh Schulte is trying to fire his stand-by counsel, here
Judge Furman: You would not be permitted to essentially testify to the jury without taking the witness stand. You would not be permitted to abuse the dignity of the court [or of witnesses - Stormy?]
Judge Furman: Would you like time? Avenatti: May I have 15 minutes? Judge Furman: No. You have five minutes, or we'll take it up at the end of the day.
Judge Furman: How do you want to proceed? Avenatti: I am prepared to proceed and represent myself. I have one question - I am asking that the jury be instructed that "Mister Avenatti has decided to assist in his defense." Judge Furman: No, I'm not accepting hybrid
Judge Furman: Now I need to ask about your education, alcohol or drugs. Hospitalized for mental illness? Avenatti: I was hospitalized for surgeries. Judge Furman: Alcohol in the last 48 hours? Avenatti: One drink last night. Judge Furman: Clear mind? A: Yes.
Judge Furman: Did you graduate from law school? Avenatti: Yes. That was the end of my education. Judge Furman: Tell me about the case before Judge Selna.
Avenatti: I invoked my pro se right just before the jury was sworn. The case resulted in a mistrial. Judge Furman: Are you familiar with the Federal Rules of Evidence? Avenatti: Yes. Judge Furman: And with the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure? Avenatti: Less than Evidence, but yes.
AUSA: Mr. Avenatti cross examined this witness at length in California. Judge Furman: There may be some gamesmanship here, but if I let him represent himself, there will be no going back.
Judge Furman: I find he is competent, I find that he may and will be representing himself.
Now jury is entering. Judge Furman will give new instruction: Judge Furman: Jurors, Mr. Avenatti will represent himself for the duration of the trial. He will be the one making the objections, questioning witnesses and making a closing statement.
Judge Furman: Don't speculate why he has made this decision. We will proceed with the direct of Ms. Regnier. AUSA: Let's look at the last paragraph of GX 2. Please read it. Regnier: We've raised $592,000... AUSA: Where were you working from? Avenatti: Objection!
Judge Furman: Overruled. Regnier: I was working from home. The law firm was evicted. Avenatti: Your Honor, may I have a standing objection to this? Judge Furman: You may. AUSA: How long had the law firm not paid rent? Regnier: 5 months.
Judge Furman: Cross examination. Avenatti: Ms. Regnier, who is Luke Janklow? Regnier: I have no personal knowledge. Avenatti: Who is Sally Richardson? Regnier: I have no idea. Avenatti: What do you know about Ms. Daniels' book deal? Regnier: Nothing.
Avenatti: What do you know about the book advance payments? Regnier: No knowledge. Avenatti: Did you communicate with Ms. Daniels? Regnier: Never directly. And my emails were not responded to. Avenatti: So, no response - true? Regnier: True.
Avenatti: Who at our firm was responsible for communications with Ms. Daniels? Regnier: You were. Avenatti: Let's turn to -- Judge Furman: You're too close to the microphone.
Avenatti: So this contract says if we negotiated a book deal for Ms. Daniels we would be responsible for a reasonable fee, right? Regnier. Right. Avenatti: And my time would be billed at $850 a hour or more, right? Regnier: Yes.
Avenatti: You used a program called TABS, right? Regnier: Yes. Avenatti: TABS was to see how much time was spent in the legal representation, right? AUSA: Objection - relevance. Judge Furman: Sustained.
Avenatti: Your Honor, could I have a sidebar? Judge Furman: No(pe). Avenatti: Mr. Regnier, we also used Quickbooks, yes? AUSA: Objection! Judge Furman: Overruled.
venatti: The Legal Defense Funds, it was set up with Crowd Justice, not GoFundMe as you said earlier? Regnier: I don't remember. Avenatti: You don't know what % of those money belonged to the firm, and what % to Ms. Daniels, right? Regnier: I don't know that.
Avenatti: Who from the government interviewed you? Regnier: Mr Sobelman, an FBI agent, others. Avenatti: Did they ever ask you about the costs of the Daniels representation? Regnier: No.
Avenatti: Do you remember the firm's verdict over $400 million? AUSA: Objection! Judge Furman: Overruled. Avenatti: That the Daily Journal said we were number one? AUSA: Objection. Judge Furman: Sustained
Avenatti: Are you aware of any money I put to an improper purpose? AUSA: Objection! Judge Furman (after a pause) Sustained. Avenatti: You testified I put Ms. Daniels' funds to my personal use. Please state the date & payee. Regnier: I don't have that information.
Avenatti: While you were at the firm you were paid well, were you not? AUSA: Objection. Judge Furman: Sustained. Avenatti: You were the highest paid non attorney at the law firm, right? AUSA: Objection. Avenatti: Goes to bias. Judge Furman: I'll allow it.
Avenatti: One year you got a bonus over $100,000, correct? Regnier: Yes, but -- Avenatti: Move to strike everything after Yes as non-responsive. Didn't I pay to sent you and your husband to Cabo? Regnier: You did.
Avenatti: Let's talk about contingency fee agreements - 25% to 45% of the recovery, right? Regnier: Right. Judge Furman: Please wrap up this line of questions. Avenatti: I just have one more in this line, then I'll move on.
Judge Furman: How much more time? Avenatti: An hour or an hour and a half. Ms. Regnier, you can remember at least $100 million in wins, no? Judge Furman: Sustained. This is testimony.
Avenatti: Did you think our firm's legal work was of a high quality? AUSA: Objection. Judge Furman: Sustained. Avenatti: There was another lawsuit against Keith Davidson, Ms. Daniels former lawyer, filed in CA?
Regnier: Yes. Avenatti: And a lawsuit against a strip club in Florida, yes? Regnier: I remember that. Avenatti: A false arrest in Columbus, Ohio too? Regnier: Yes.
Avenatti: And Ms. Daniels accused two long term friends of stealing from her, right? AUSA: Objection. Judge Furman: Sustained.
Avenatti: In preparing to testify today, did you make an effort to look at the electronic files concerning the firm's representation of Ms. Daniels? Regnier: I looked at the documents provided to me, that's all.
At 3 pm on the nose, Judge Furman wishes the jurors a very pleasant evening. We'll stay to cover any lawyer arguments - then run down to see if we catch Avenatti talking and walking like yesterday. Watch this feed.
Update: Some delay in Avenatti-Watch out on Worth Street - Judge Furman has told him to go with court staff and get a COVID test, as required of witnesses and counsel who want to question or speak without masks.
On January 24 Inner City Press rushed down to see if Avenatti speaks, as before, on Worth Street
He did: stream here, video here
Judge Furman released his juror questions, asking each side to respond by January 19 at 10 am. The questions include: "Based on anything that you have read, seen, or heard about Mr. Avenatti, have you formed any opinions about Mr. Avenatti that might make it difficult for you to be a fair and impartial juror in this case? 10. Would you have any trouble following my instructions to put anything you may have read, seen, or heard about Mr. Avenatti out of your mind and decide this case based only on the evidence presented at trial? 11. Do you or does any member of your family or a close friend personally know or have past or present dealings with the alleged victim in this case, Ms. Clifford (also known as “Stormy Daniels”), or with any of her family members?...
"Do you know or have you heard of any of the following people or entities, which include the lawyers in this case, people who may testify at the trial, and other names that may be mentioned during the course of the trial? • Pamela Baez • Elizabeth Beier • Thomas Bolus • Clark Brewster • Christine Carlin • Michaela Catando (also known as Kayla Paige) • Dmitri Chitov • Dwayne Crawford • Jennifer Donovan • Anna Finkel • Mark Geragos • Jack Guiragosian • Holtzbrinck Publishers • Luke Janklow • Janklow & Nesbit Associates • Geoffrey Johnson • Global Baristas • Sean Macias • Macmillan Publishers • Susan McClaran • Benjamin Meiselas • Travis Miller • Mareli Miniutti • Erik Nathan • Denver Nicks • Kevin Carr O’Leary • David Padilla • Brandon Parraway • Pro Tech Security and Automation • Judy Regnier • Sally Richardson • Security and Automation LLC • St. Martin’s Press • Enrique Santos • Jessica Volchko • Juliet Vicari • Donald Vilfer 25. Are you familiar with anyone else present in the courtroom, including your fellow jurors, all Court personnel, and myself?"
On October 14 Judge Furman held a proceeding in the Stormy Daniels case and Inner City Press live tweeted it here and podcast here
On August 10 Avenatti's Federal Defenders filed a copy of the affidavit with multiple redactions. The form refers on nearly every question to an attachment, which is blacked out in absurd ways. It reads, for example, "I own stock in two closely held companies that may have value: (a) [REDACTED] located in [REDACTED] and (b) [REDACTED] located in [REDACTED]... I technically still have an interest in a private aircraft (model: HondaJet 420) that was seized by the IRS and is still in their possession. This interest is held through a single-purpose entity named [REDACTED]," and so forth.
Inner City Press published the redacted affidavit on its DocumentCloud here and asked, Will the Court be accepting this?
On August 11, the correct answer was: No. "MEMO ENDORSEMENT as to Michael Avenatti (1) on [139] LETTER MOTION re: [139] LETTER MOTION addressed to Judge Jesse M. Furman from Robert Baum, Tamara Giwa & Andrew Dalack dated August 10, 2021 re: Letter Motion In Response to Court's Order to File Financial Affidavit. ENDORSEMENT: The Court is unpersuaded that privacy interests justify redacting the names and locations of the corporate entities in Paragraphs 14, 15, and 17 of ECF No. 139-1."
After hours on August 12, some redactions were removed: Avenatti's owned a plane through Passport 420 LLC; an unnamed "non-family-member acquaintance" paid a NY-based attorney in the Nike case, whose name is redacted. Unredacted: Avenatti owns stock in Tyrian Systems (aka Seek Thermal) of Santa Barbara, CA and Centurion Holdings I, LLC of St. Louis Missouri."
Not so fast. Inner City Press research in the hours after the removal of the improper redactions found that Centurion Holdings I, LLC is based in Arnold, Missouri - and "received a PPP loan of $60,477 in May, 2020." That's the Paycheck Protection Program; the funds came through the Central Bank of St. Louis.
Bigger, the aka: "Seek Thermal, Inc of 6300 Hollister Ave in Goleta, California received a Coronavirus-related PPP loan from the SBA of $1,365,062.00 in April, 2020." We'll have more on this.
Watch this site.
On August 27, Inner City Press filed a formal request that documents in the case not be sealed, full filing on Patreon here.
On November 12, Inner City Press made a third filing with Judge Furman, on a decision to unseal issued earlier in the day by SDNY Judge J. Paul Oetken after Inner City Press filed to similarly unseal Lev Parnas' co-defendant David Correia's financial infor: "we again ask, why should lower income and less high profile defendants in the SDNY -- and now David Correia -- have their financial information so disclosed while Avenatti's information is sealed in its entirety? The documents at issue should not be sealed and should be made available."
On August 28, 2020 Judge Furman entered an order: "The Court received the attached communication from Matthew Lee of Inner City Press “seeking leave to be heard and for the unsealing of the CJA Form 23, affidavit, and all associated documents” relating to this litigation. To the extent that Mr. Lee (who is admitted to the bar of the Southern District of New York) seeks leave to be heard, his application is GRANTED. The Court reserves judgment on the question of whether Defendant’s CJA Form 23 and related documents should be unsealed. SO ORDERED. Dated: August 28, 2020 New York, New York JESSE M. FURMAN." Docket No. 85, on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud, here.
On July 27, 2021, Judge Furman four times citing Inner City Press ordered Avenatti's affidavits unsealed: "Avenatti filed a letter brief arguing that the Initial Financial Affidavit should remain under seal. ECF No. 80 (“Def.’s Mem.”). Thereafter, the Court received submissions from Inner City Press, a media outlet that intervened to seek disclosure of the Financial Affidavits, ECF Nos. 85, 90, 99... The Defendant initially argued that the Government lacked standing “to assert any right on behalf of the public to access Mr. Avenatti’s sworn financial statements.” Def.’s Mem. 7 n.1 (citing United States v. Hickey, 185 F.3d 1064 (9th Cir. 1999)). Subsequently, however, the Court granted leave to Inner City Press to be heard on the Defendant’s motion, ECF No. 85, which indisputably does have standing to assert such rights." Full order here, filings due August 10. Watch this site.
This case is US v. Avenatti, 19-cr-374 (Furman).***
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