By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Song Radio
BBC - Decrypt - Podcast - Order Affidavit
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 27 – 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 of January 25, 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.
On the morning of January 26, podcast here, Avenatti cross examined Regnier than an FBI agent. Inner City Press live tweeted, thread here.
On the afternoon of January 26 Avenatti cross examined Sean Macias who hooked him up with Garagos, before those two double teamed Nike. Inner City Press live tweeted it, thread here.
On the morning of January 27, after the end of Macias and another SDNY witness, Stormy Daniels took the stand to begin direct examination. Inner City Press live tweeted it here:
it's US v. Avenatti, Day 4 of Stormy Daniels trial, with #Avenatti still cross-examining lawyer Macias about what social media posts he's read during the trial.
Avenatti: Did you meet with the prosecutors on WebEx? Macias: Yes. Judge Furman: Is that a platform like Zoom or Microsoft Teams?
Avenatti: Mr. Macias, wasn't your home searched by the government? Macias: Absolutely not. Avenatti: Is it your testimony your office or home has not been searched? Judge Furman: May we have a sidebar, Mr. Avenatti? [Whispered sidebar]
[They're back, and it seems the issue of possible government search of Macias' premises is off limits.]
Avenatti: Mr. Macias, what is a legal malpractice lawsuit? What is an expert witness? Have you ever hired one? Macias: Yes.
Avenatti: In late 2018 didn't you hire me as an expert? Macias: Yes. Avenatti: Who is Mel B? Macias: A Spice Girl. A beautiful lady.
Avenatti: Did you're hire me as an expert in an arbitration?
AUSA: Objection! Judge Furman: Sustained. Mr. Avenatti, please get to the point. Avenatti: When I told you I liked Tulsi Gabbard for my campaign, didn't you tell me I'd get you some Dough Ray Me?
Macias: I did use the phrase Do Re Mi. Avenatti: Didn't you send me a text you'd get some some Dough Ray Me "so you can run like a banshee"? Can we have the exhibit on the screen? DX-AB. Judge Furman: Mr. Macias, does it refresh your recollection? Macias: No.
Avenatti: Mr. Macias, you currently serve as my estranged wife's lawyer in our divorce, yes or no? Macias: Yes.
Judge Furman: Re-direct? AUSA: No, Your Honor. Macias: Am I excused? Judge Furman: Yes. Put your mask back on.
Next witness is US Attorney's Office staffer Enrique Santos. AUSA: What type of cloud data have you examined? Santos: iCloud, Facebook, Google. For this, I used Cellebrite. It parses out the data from the iCloud production.
US introduces a slew of exhibits, messages between Stormy Daniels and Avenatti- or the owner of his phone.
AUSA: So Mr. Santos, there are blue bubbles & green bubbles, Stormy Daniels and "unknown." Santos: That's the owner of the phone associated with Mr. Avenatti
AUSA: Let's read. I'll be Avenatti or "unknown." Santos / Stormy: When is the publisher going to cough up my money? AUSA / "unknown" They need to pay you, you did your part and then some. Santos / Stormy: How do they think they can get away without paying me?
Cross examination. Avenatti: You did analysis of Exhibit 401 and 402? Santos: 401 is just what Apple gave us. 402 is my report, using Cellebrite. Avenatti: Who told you to do it? Who exactly? Santos: I believe Mr. Sobelman.
Avenatti: What did you ask you do to? AUSA: Objection. Judge Furman: Sustained. Avenatti: Did you search for all conversations with Stormy Daniels? Santos: I was asked to focus on these WhatsApp conversations. I saw there was an iMessage and some group chats.
Avenatti: And you don't know if there are conversations with Sean Macias in there, because no one asked you to look, right? AUSA: Objection. Judge Furman: Sustained.
Avenatti: Refresh my recollection on what Exhibit 5 is. Santos: Messages between Ms. Daniels and you, or the owner of your phone. Avenatti: We offer Defense Exhibit AC, Apple Charlie.
AUSA: This is hundreds of pages. Objection. Judge Furman: Sustained. Avenatti: With this WhatsApp conversation, if a message is deleted before it was backed-up to the cloud, it's not in here, right? Santos: Right. [Judge Furman took time to review exhibits Avenatti offered, came back and said only 22, 31 and 43 are in]
Avenatti: Mr. Santos let's do a dramatic reading. I'll play me. Santos / Stormy: Getting luggage. Can't do unless I get out of Big Brother. Avenatti-as-Avenatti: I will handle with the publisher. Don't worry. I got it. Santos / Stormy: I don't give a shit anymore.
Avenatti (reading) I am never going on the show with you. I saw him at Disney. I never speak badly about you, Stormy. I was never going on. Santos / Stormy: It's about conversation going on behind my back. I hope Luke f*cking chokes on the money he makes off me.
Avenatti (reading) I don't know what you are upset about being deleted from your book. B.T.W. I build you up. You can't send that statement Stormy, please. Why go after me in the press? Avenatti: Mr. Santos did I read that correctly? Santos: Yes.
Santos is done. Judge Furman: Next witness. AUSA: The government calls Stephanie Clifford.
Assistant US Attorney Sobelman: What other name do you use? Stormy/Clifford: Stormy Daniels. That's my stage name. Please call me Ms. Daniels.
AUSA: You've met Michael Avenatti? Stormy: He's standing up in the blue shirt. He was my attorney. But no longer.
Stormy: I hired a new attorney because he stole from me and lied to me.
AUSA: What did he steal from you? Stormy: Money from my book. I am a writer, director and in production of a TV show about paranormal activity. I was also a dancer and worked in adult films.
Stormy: I was referred by Sean. I don't remember his last name. I wanted out of a non-disclosure deal with Donald Trump. I met Avenatti at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills. AUSA: GX 603. Is this a photo of the hotel? Stormy Daniels: Yes. AUSA: What did you discuss about payment?
Daniels: I said I didn't have much money. He said we could work it out. A day later we met for lunch in LA. He said it would be $100, and he'd set up a legal defense fund and take money from winnings again Donald Trump.
AUSA: Is this the agreement? Daniels: Yes. AUSA: Did you make the $100 payment. Daniels: Yes. Right there, in cash. He used it to pay for lunch.
AUSA: How much was raised for your legal defense fund? Daniels: $650,000. AUSA: Who controlled it? Daniels: Michael.
Judge Furman calls the lunch break for the jurors.
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).***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
