Michael Avenatti has been releasing via Twitter copies of emails which were exchanged between Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels’ previous attorney, Keith Davidson. The reason that’s interesting is because “these emails are evidence of questionable, if not unethical, collusion between Cohen and Davidson, who are ostensibly representing opposing sides of the dispute,” according to ThinkProgress:
The nature of Cohen’s relationship with Davidson is key. They were supposed to be on opposite sides of a number of disputes. But the emails are evidence that the relationship between the two was more collaborative.
Davidson’s representation of Stormy Daniels began when Cohen heard that Daniels was shopping her story around to various media outlets. It was at this point that Cohen asked Davidson to reach out to her, Davidson revealed in an interview with CNN.
Cohen has admitted to referring at least one other client to Davidson.
Were they each sincerely representing the interests of their clients? Or were they working in tandem to purchase their silence of women at a reduced rate and under favorable terms?
Here are a few of the emails in question. See if they sound like they were exchanged between adversaries or colleagues.
On April 9, the FBI raided Mr. Cohen’s home, office and hotel room. Within 48 hours, Mr. Cohen sent the below email to Mr. Davidson. Why? They had no ongoing legal matter at the time. Was it part of an attempt by Mr. Cohen to obstruct justice or worse? #basta pic.twitter.com/e7DfLSxG4x
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 10, 2018
Knowing what we know now, no wonder Mr. Cohen was doing everything he could to interfere with Ms. Daniels' efforts to get new counsel. He was desperate to avoid the cover-up from surfacing and was afraid that competent counsel would expose him and Mr. Trump. #MoreToCome #Basta pic.twitter.com/FCzzFwcEsP
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 11, 2018
What are the odds that three women, who didn’t know one another, namely Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal and Shera Bechard, all had Keith Davidson negotiate deals to buy their silence? Isn’t that rather incredible? Especially when Donald Trump was a party in two out of those three deals? And Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, supposedly represented the opposition in all three cases? Talk about incestuous. New York Times:
One of the women, a former Playboy model named Karen McDougal, sold the rights to her story for $150,000 to American Media Inc., the publisher of The National Enquirer. The other woman, Stephanie Clifford, a pornographic film actress known as Stormy Daniels, received a payment of $130,000 that Mr. Cohen said came out of his own pocket.
Both of the women were represented by Keith M. Davidson. Mr. Davidson also represented the woman in the agreement Mr. Cohen struck on behalf of Mr. Broidy, further establishing a pattern of collaboration between the lawyers in striking for-pay accommodations to silence women’s allegations about powerful men.
Here’s the bottom line:
Avenatti also says the emails contain evidence that Cohen was seeking to use his relationship with Davidson to interfere with Daniels obtaining new counsel. The purpose, according to Avenatti, was to cover up the other activities of Essential Consultants, the shell company used to pay Daniels, which also received millions from corporations seeking access to Trump.
Obviously Michael Avenatti intends to expose the relationship between Cohen and Davidson further, and at first blush, it would appear that Michael Cohen may have committed obstruction of justice. When Avenatti dropped his bomb on May 10 naming various companies that had made payments to Essential Consultants, the Wall Street Journal said, “From its origins as a conduit to pay hush money, Essential Consultants LLC has evolved into a nexus in federal investigations buffeting the Trump administration.” Always bear in mind that Donald Trump went ballistics after the FBI raid on Cohen’s home and office. He would not have had that strong a reaction if there was nothing there of much interest. At the end of the day, we’ll probably see that Michael Cohen is the linchpin in the Trump Russia investigation and possibly a lot more, and it would appear that Michael Avenatti intends to tease out each stage of the investigation slowly.
