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Michael Avenatti: From 254 TV Appearances and '2020 Primary Strategy' Segments to 14 Years in Prison

Stormy Daniels' lawyer became a fixture on CNN and MSNBC in 2018, with segments on his possible 2020 presidential run. He was later convicted of trying to extort Nike and of stealing from clients, including Daniels.

Sep 16, 2018
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Whose side it served: Democrats

Built up a leading anti-Trump figure, then moved on quickly.

What the record shows

Research cited by Fox News counted 254 TV appearances in the year before his legal troubles, and an analysis reported by Mediaite and the Free Beacon put his free airtime at roughly $175 million in earned media. CNN's Reliable Sources ran a 'What is Avenatti's 2020 primary strategy?' segment in September 2018. He was convicted of the Nike extortion (2020), of defrauding Daniels (2022), and in December 2022 was sentenced to 14 years in the California client-fraud case. Critics note the networks that built him up covered his convictions far more briefly than they covered his rise.

The other side

CNN and MSNBC did report each charge and sentence, and CNN's own legal analysts later criticized him sharply.

Sources

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