Stormy Daniels's Lawyer: Likelihood of Michael Cohen Being Charged is "Close to 100%"
As federal investigators pore over material seized from President Trump’s personal lawyer, the man representing Stormy Daniels says there is a “substantial amount of evidence” to charge the lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Daniels’s attorney, Michael Avenatti said in an interview with Cheddar he was certain Mr. Cohen committed a crime and that he could charged before the end of the summer.
“I know that for a fact,” Avenatti said, though he didn’t say how he arrived at this certainty.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. She was paid by Cohen to stay quiet about the affair, as part of a non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2016. Avenatti is now helping her challenge that contract.
He said the fact that the FBI got search warrants for Cohen’s office and hotel room was a sign there was sufficient evidence already to implicate Cohen given the level of scrutiny those warrants would have received.
“That was not a decision that was made lightly,” Avenatti said. “There were multiple individuals that had to have been consulted and had to have signed off on that including a federal judge,” he said.
Earlier this week, Avenatti told [CNN](https://twitter.com/AC360/status/984233848602005504) that he was aware of more FBI raids planned “within the next week.”
When asked Thursday on Cheddar how he could know the FBI’s plans, he again declined to say how he got his information.
The FBI agents who raided Cohen’s office were looking for information on potential campaign finance violactions, The [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/us/politics/michael-cohen-trump-access-hollywood.html) reported on Wednesday. Investigators were reportedly gathering details on Cohen’s relationship to the Trump presidential campaign, in which he had no official role, and trying to determine if he was connected to the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
The $130,000 that Cohen paid Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet about her tryst with Trump is a key element of the case, Avenatti said.
If the payment came from Cohen, it could be considered an undisclosed campaign contribution, Avenatti said. If prosecutors find that Trump reimbursed Cohen for that payment, or even knew about it, Avenatti said the president could face conspiracy charges.
“In the event that Michael Cohen were to roll over on the president, that could pose a significant problem for the president and his ability to stay in office,” Avenatti said.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/inside-the-raid-on-michael-cohen-from-the-eyes-of-stormy-daniels-attorney).
After the Chicago teachers union voted to work remotely due to what they say is a lack of safety protocols amid the COVID-19 surge, the school system canceled classes on Wednesday, citing harm that remote learning has done to the city's children. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, joined Cheddar to discuss the issues surrounding the latest dispute between educators and schools. She said that the return to in-person learning would likely be halted until more COVID tests could be provided for districts. "This is a terrible situation for everybody, and we need the testing, and we need the masks," she said. "It's the omicron surge that has created this disruption, and we are trying to do the best we can. And this is the only school district that has this kind of action right now." The teachers might not be returning to their schools for at least two weeks amid the ongoing tensions.
Illinois State Senator Robert Martwick joins Cheddar News to discuss the new bill he co-sponsored allowing students in the state to take 5 mental health days without a doctor's note.
On Monday, President Biden announced his new plan to take on inflation by taking down the big meat monopolies - turning to the federal government's antitrust authorities to investigate the major meatpackers that control a significant share of the market. The White House plans to devote one billion dollars to aiding independent meat and poultry producers in an effort to undercut the few powerful meat producers that have control of the sector. Austin Frerick, deputy director of Thurman Arnold Project at Yale, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
As the pandemic drags on, so does the widespread great resignation. In November alone, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, marking a new record high, and showing a 9 percent jump from the month prior. On the flip side, the number of people filing tax paperwork to start new businesses is surging, with over 430,000 new businesses launching in November. Rhett Buttle, the founder of Public Private Strategies and national business advisor to the Biden for President campaign, joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is ramping up a civil investigation into The Trump Organization. The AG's office has subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. They have refused to comply with the subpoenas. Bradley Moss, national security attorney, joins Cheddar News to discuss the next steps in this investigation.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has officially reduced the 110-year prison sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 10 years, calling the initial lengthy sentence “unjust.” Dan Gilleon, constitutional attorney at Gilleon Law Firm APC, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was sworn in as the newest Mayor of New York City. Adams is now expected to work on a number of issues such as crime and coronavirus. Erin Durkin,, reporter at PoliticoNY, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
California's new composting law will affect what residents do in their kitchens. As of this week, Californians will have to recycle excess food in an effort to reduce emissions caused by food waste. Cities and counties will turn recycled food into compost or use it as a renewable energy source. California's new law is the largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the country. Rachel Wagoner, Director of the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery called the law 'the biggest change to trash' since recycling started in the 1980s. She joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
As the U.S. comes up on the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.,A.C. Thompson, investigative reporter at ProPublica, joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to discuss updates to American Insurrection by FRONTLINE, ProPublica and Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program. The documentary investigates the attack on the Capitol touched off by the lie that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump but with new information gleaned since the event including interviews with lawmakers and law enforcement and the evolution of groups like the Boogaloo Boys and the Proud Boys behind the attack. "In some ways those groups that were kind of the vanguard of January 6 are maybe no longer relevant because their message is everywhere," he said.
