CNBC’s ‘American Greed’ to Feature Michael Avenatti Story Jan. 4

LOS ANGELES—The sudden rise to fame and equally abrupt downfall of Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who represented AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels in her “hush money” lawsuit against Donald Trump, has been one of the most dramatic legal stories of the past several years. Now, as he faces trial in April for allegedly swindling Daniels out of nearly $300,00, Avenatti will see his tale told for a mass audience, thanks to the cable network CNBC. Avenatti (pictured above, left) will feature on an upcoming episode of American Greed, CNBC’s 13-season reality/documentary series that highlights sordid true stories of white collar crime. The episode will be the first directed by longtime American Greed executive producer Mike West. In dramatic recreations of events in Avenatti’s career, the 49-year-old Avenatti will be portrayed by 34-year-old actor and stuntman Kamy D. Bruder (pictured above, right).  The American Greed episode is set to air on the cable business-news network on January 4. No information has yet been made available on casting of a possible Stormy Daniels role, but it seems a safe assumption that the AVN Hall of Famer will be portrayed in the episode. Avenatti was a largely unknown, California litigation attorney before landing Daniels as a client and quickly filing a high-profile lawsuit against Donald Trump, demanding that Daniels be released from a 2016 “hush money” agreement.  Daniels says that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in his hotel room at a golf tournament in 2006. In 2016, shortly before the presidential election Trump and his then-lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence over the encounter.  Avenatti quickly used the case to embark on a media blitz throughout 2018, appearing almost every day on various cable news programs, as well as — with Daniels — the ABC talk show The View and many other radio and TV outlets.  But his fall was just as hard. After an acrimonious split with Daniels, Avenatti was arrested in March of 2019 — almost exactly one year after announcing the Daniels-Trump lawsuit — and charged with attempting to extort the Nike footwear corporation out of $20 million. He was also soon charged with multiple counts of financial crimes, with prosecutors alleging that he repeatedly bilked clients — including a paraplegic man who was living on disability payments — out of millions.  In a separate case, Avenatti was also charged with misappropriating a $300,000 book publisher’s advance meant for Daniels, diverting the cash into his own bank account and using it to pay for his living expenses and luxury purchases. Though Daniels’ lawsuit against Trump was dismissed in March, 2019, the case continues to reverberate in the legal system. The Manhattan, New York City, district attorney’s office has continued to investigate the “hush money” payment, and Trump has sued to stop release of his financial records to the D.A.  Photos By Showtime The Circus / Wikimedia Commons / Kamy Bruder Instagram