Stormy Daniels: Michael Avenatti and I 'have sorted sh-- out' after fundraiser accounting questions
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Adult film star Stormy Daniels, left, was paid $130,000 by Michael Cohen in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with President Trump in 2006 in the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election. (Reuters)
Adult-film star Stormy Daniels revealed Sunday that she and attorney Michael Avenatti have "straightened s--- out" days after she questioned the origin of a fundraising appeal Avenatti launched on her behalf.
Daniels told the Daily Beast on Wednesday that Avenatti had launched the campaign on the website CrowdJustice "without my permission or even my knowledge" after she questioned him about how money raised through an initial fundraiser had been spent. The initial fundraiser brought in a reported $580,000 toward Daniels' expenses; the second fundraiser brought in $4,785 before the page was taken down Wednesday evening.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, also claimed that Avenatti sued President Trump for defamation without her approval. A federal judge threw out that suit this past October and ordered Daniels to pay the president's legal fees.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Sunday, Daniels tweeted that "we know the accounting is on the up and up," but did not elaborate further. When contacted by Fox News, Avenatti said in an email: "We haven’t decided whether we are going to raise more money - ultimately it will be Stormy’s decision."
STORMY DANIELS SAYS LAWYER AVENATTI SUED TRUMP FOR DEFAMATION WITHOUT HER OK
Avenatti also tweeted: "Onward and upward. To all the people that want to divide us for their own agendas: It is not going to happen!"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Daniels initially sued Trump to invalidate the confidentiality agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election that prevented her from discussing a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006, years before he ran for president. The confidentiality agreement included a payment of $130,000 to Daniels from Trump's then-personal attorney Michael Cohen. This past August, Cohen admitted to making payments to Daniels and another woman, Karen McDougal, "at the direction" of then-candidate Trump in violation of federal campaign finance law.
Trump repeatedly has denied the encounter with Daniels took place.