Michael Avenatti, the former lawyer who rose to prominence representing Stormy Daniels in her legal battles with President Donald Trump before being jailed for embezzling his clients’ money, is seeking to relaunch his career.
The attorney was a familiar face at the porn star’s side during Trump’s first term when she alleged she had had a sexual encounter with the future president in 2006 and had been paid “hush money” by his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, to stay quiet about it, which he repeatedly denied.
Avenatti gave multiple, aggressive TV appearances on Daniels’ behalf as they pursued a defamation lawsuit and was even tipped for a future presidential run himself before his client broke with him, bringing about the sudden downward turn in his fortunes.
Avenatti was convicted of stealing a nearly $300,000 book advance from Daniels in 2022 and of trying to extort $25 million from Nike.
He then pleaded guilty in 2022 to four counts of wire fraud, one for each client he stole from, as well as one count of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to collect $5m in unpaid payroll tax.
He was subsequently sentenced to 14 years behind bars, which a federal judge later reduced to 8 years in June 2025, allowing some of his sentences to run concurrently. He was disbarred by the state of California in February that year.
Now, as he looks to revive his career ahead of an expected release in September 2028, Avenatti’s new website addresses his spectacular downfall with the strapline: “Twenty years. A billion dollars in results. A fall from grace. And the hard truths learned along the way.”
Written in the third-person, the blurb on Avenatti’s site describes him as “one of the most feared and effective trial lawyers in the United States” at the peak of his powers, claiming to have won “one billion dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients, including a landmark $454 million jury verdict in 2017.”
Despite a bitter falling out with Daniels, he mentions her case, calling it one “that would define – and ultimately upend – his career,” claiming to have been likened to the young Barack Obama for his media appearances at that time and spoken of with fear by MAGA strategist Steve Bannon.
“What came after is a matter of public record,” the site states. “Convictions. Incarceration. The loss of everything he had built. He does not minimize what happened or ask for sympathy.
“He is committed to making things right. He also has things to say about what was done to him, and how, and why. That full account – honest about both – is coming.
“Michael Avenatti is currently focused on rebuilding his life, with an emphasis on his family and the people who have stuck by him. And he has a lot of making-up to do.”
For now, Avenatti remains in federal custody and was moved from the Metropolitan Detention Center Los Angeles to a Long Beach halfway house last week, according to Bureau of Prisons records.
The Independent has reached out to representatives of Stormy Daniels for comment about Avenatti’s attempted relaunch.
The attorney previously relished his media role as an outspoken Trump critic, telling NPR’s All Things Considered in 2018 that the president is “either going to resign… be removed from office by impeachment, or I’m going to beat him in 2020. But one way or the other, he’s not going to serve a second term.”
He has since struck a more sympathetic tone, saying that he was concerned about the “weaponization” of the Department of Justice under Joe Biden in 2024 to prosecute Trump, which led to the New York trial at which Daniels played a starring role in the witness box.
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