U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood has had it with porn attorney Michael Avenatti. She reprimanded him for his ongoing TV appearances he tries to intervene in the federal case against the embattled Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. She made it clear that the attention-getting appearances had to stop. Cohen deserves a fair trial.
As it happens, following Wednesday’s conference, Avenatti withdrew his motion to appear in the Cohen case.
It’s the publicity he wants.
Avenatti represents porn star Stormy Daniels aka Stephanie Clifford and the tenor of his anti-Cohen campaign has irked the judge.
“This conduct is inimical to eventually giving Mr. Cohen a fair trial,” the judge said of Avenatti, lately a fixture on the cable news circuit, according to a New York Daily News reporter present for the proceedings. She then warned him to immediately conclude his “publicity tour.”
Wood said further: “I want you to participate, or not be in the matter at all. I don’t want you to be in some sort of limbo where you’re able to denigrate Mr. Cohen…This conduct is inimical to eventually giving Mr. Cohen a fair trial (if that happens).”
Rule 3.6 of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct provides that attorneys should not make out of court statements which could prejudice a pending matter. Wood indicated that she believes Avenatti is bound by the New York rules, and that he has repeatedly violated them when impugning guilt to Cohen in interviews with the press.
“You cannot declare your opinion as to Mr Cohen’s guilt, which you did,” she said at Wednesday’s hearing.
Cohen’s lawyers also rebuked Avenatti who believes he did nothing improper.
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At another remarkable juncture, Avenatti argued the bankruptcy of his former law practice, Eagan Avenatti LLP, was not germane to the Cohen case, since Clifford was never a client of the firm. In turn, an attorney representing President Donald Trump produced emails showing Avenatti used his defunct firm’s email domain to communicate about Clifford’s case. The attorney, Joanna Hendon of Spears & Imes LLP, accused Avenatti of making “not straightforward and cute” representations.”
Avenatti withdrew his motion to appear without prejudice. That means he reserves the right to seek admission to the court at a future date.
