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:
US v. Avenatti, Stormy Daniels case, Day 2. Literary agent Luke Janklow still on the stand, cross-examined by Avenatti's taxpayer-funded Federal Defender.
Federal Defender Dalack: So here you called Sally Richardson saying only $200,000 in first payment was "asinine publishing bulls*it."
Janklow: It's a colloquialism. Federal Defender: And Mr. Avenatti wanted $300,000 up front. Janklow: Yes. Federal Defender: And you told Mr. Avenatti about "Fire and Fury." What's that?
Janklow: Another Trump book. It made a lot of money. [Inner City Press: even with the free leaked PDF out there] Federal Defender: You trusted Mr. Avenatti, right? Janklow: Yes.
Federal Defender: So you were waiting for Mr. Avenatti to take this contract to Ms. Daniels and get it approved, right? Janklow: Yes. FD: Mr. Avenatti was a folk hero for you? Janklow: It was an exciting moment.
FD: You were aware he was doing work with Ms. Daniels with respect to her case against President Trump? Assistant US Attorney: Objection! Judge Furman: Sustained.
FD: Why did the publisher need to be calmed down? Janklow: They had not met the principal in person, on a video call with her. Judge Furman: By principal, you mean Ms. Daniels? Janklow: Yes.
Federal Defender Dalack: You say you rejected the proposed escrow clause out of hand. But you forwarded it to Mr. Avenatti, right? Janklow: To show him how absurd it was. Judge Furman: Mr. Dalack, again, please finish this line of questioning.
Federal Defender: You forwarded the contract to Mr. Avenatti with the signature, yes? Janklow: Of course, with the signature. Judge: This cross should end in the next few minutes. FD: Yes, Your Honor. I offer into evidence LJ 157. AUSA: Objection. Judge: Sustained.
FD: Mr. Janklow, before Steve Cohen counter-signed, you wanted to consult with Mr. Avenatti, right? Janklow: I don't remember. Judge Furman: I'll give you a couple more questions and that's it. FD: I'm wrapping up this chapter.
FD: May I have a brief sidebar?? Judge Furman: You may not. Please have a seat. We'll see you at [re-cross].
FD Dalack: Your Honor -- Judge Furman: I don't want to hear from you on this. Mr. Janklow you are excused. Dalack: We may call him during our case.
AUSA: Did you seize anything? Agent Ellard: Mr. Avenatti's briefcase. I conducted an inventory search. I found an iPad, a passport, things of that nature. AUSA: What did you walk into court with today. What is it? Agent Ellard: It is a gray colored MacBook Pro.
[And with that, Agent Ellard is done. Next witness will be by video.]
Judge Furman: I'm going to the jury a short break now, ten minutes max, so we'll take our lunch later than usual. Keep an open mind & do not discuss the case or do any research. See you shortly.
With jury out of the room: Judge Furman: I don't think a single question Mr. Dalack asked this morning was relevant to this case. Federal Defender: I had a whole other chapter to discuss with Mr. Janklow how poorly the book did - due to her own failings.
Federal Defender: Mr. Janklow took money from the publisher before he had a signed fee agreement with Ms. Daniels. Judge Furman: I gave you warnings, you failed to take the hint. Federal Defender Dalack: May I confer with Mr. Baum? Judge: Do whatever you want.
They're back and... Federal Defender Baum: A serious issue has arisen about our continued representation of Mr. Avenatti. We need a recess. He may want to represent himself. Judge Furman: It is a qualified right until the trial begins. Sit down, Mr. Avenatti.
Judge Furman: I have received a communication by a lawyer for a third party, Justin Loupe. I am going to reject it. Defense: We expect what Mr. Loupe would say would go beyond Ms. Daniels' cross examination. Judge Furman: Get the witness unmuted, please.
Next witness is Jade Regnier, formerly employed at Avenatti's law firm. AUSA: What was your role? Regnier: As a paralegal I handed exhibits for class actions and contacting the members of the class action, that type of thing. As office manager I oversaw the staff.
AUSA: What is this document? Regnier: A client agreement with Ms. Clifford, a/k/a Stormy Daniels. AUSA: What does A-K-A mean? Regnier: Also known as. AUSA: This provision about a legal defense fund - was one set up for Ms. Daniels?
Regnier: Yes, by Mr. Avenatti. AUSA: Was the money used only for Ms. Daniels? Federal Defender: Objection! Judge Furman: Overruled. Regnier: No, it was not only use for Ms. Daniels.
AUSA: What did you hear Mr. Avenatti say about how he and the firm would make money from representing Stormy Daniels? Regnier: That they would make money from the lawsuit against President Trump.
AUSA: Now a stipulation: a representative of Zions would says, he or she is familiar with the record keeping of California Bank & Trust. [This could take a while]
AUSA: Ms. Regnier, did you review these charts and are they accurate? Regnier: Yes. AUSA: Show this to the jury.
AUSA: Mr. Avenatti asked you to send him this bank account information? Regnier: Yes. AUSA: Let's focus on this one. Regnier: It's from Mr. Avenatti to Lucus Janklow, with wiring information.
AUSA: What did Mr. Avenatti say about spending Ms. Daniels' money on his personal expenses? Regnier: He did not bring it up. AUSA: What was the condition of his law firm? Regnier: It was not good. The firm was essentially evicted from its offices.
AUSA: What did Mr. Avenatti ask you to pay from the law firm's money? Regnier: His rent and his car payment. He did not have the money. AUSA: Did you make payments to Lisa Storie Avenatti?
Regnier: Yes. She's Michael's current ex-wife. AUSA: Did Mr. Avenatti tell you to use law firm funds to pay Mareli Miniutti? Regnier: Yes. AUSA: Who was she? Regnier: Mr. Avenatti's then girlfriend.
AUSA: Why did the law firm change from California Bank & Trust to City National Bank? Regnier: The law firm overdrew at California Bank & Trust.
Judge Furman calls lunch for the jurors then says: I'll give Mr. Avenatti half an hour to think about if he wants to make a clear and unequivocal request to represent himself. If he does, tell me after the break. But I will not take it up until after the trial day
Judge Furman again says that a defendant's right to represent him- or herself is a qualified right, after the trial begins, to be balanced with how a change would impact the trial.
He adds, he does not want to waste the jurors' time. Live tweeting will resume
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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