Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels, confirmed on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s voice could be heard on tapes recorded by his personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
Following a hearing in federal district court in New York City, Avenatti called on Cohen to release audio tapes that reportedly relate to his client’s case against Trump. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing Trump in order to void a non-disclosure agreement about an alleged affair with the president.
According to Avenatti, the public has an interest in the release of the tapes.
“These tapes relate directly to the conduct of the president’s right-hand attorney, relate directly to issues considering my client, attorney-client privileges that were disclosed by Mr. Cohen improperly by her prior counsel,” Avenatti explained to MSNBC host Craig Melvin. “And also, we have every reason to believe that the tapes include communications between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen that don’t have anything to do with the rendering of legal advice. So those are not privileged communications.”
“The president’s voice is on the tapes?” Melvin asked.
“That’s our understanding,” Avenatti replied. “My client’s voice is not on the tapes, to the best of our knowledge. My client’s attorney’s voice is on the tapes, describing communications that he had with my client, which he should have never been disclosing, because that was privileged information. This whole thing appears to stink.”
Watch the video above from MSNBC.
