Michael Avenatti Denies Violence Allegations, ‘No Bruises On A Face,’ Warns TMZ ‘Better Get Checkbook Ready’
Two days after Michael Avenatti’s arrest in Los Angeles on suspicion of domestic violence, an incident first reported in a graphic TMZ online article that contained numerous sensational and still-unconfirmed details, the lawyer and prominent Donald Trump critic issued a denial of several of the allegations contained in the article.
On his Twitter account Friday morning, Avenatti also appears to warn TMZ that he planned to sue over what he said were the false details contained in the site’s initial account.
“Whomever wrote and approved that TMZ article better get their checkbook ready because it was purposely malicious and false,” Avenatti wrote. “It was designed to harm Lisa, me and my family and we are going expose TMZ for what they did. No journalist should rely on or defend garbage like that.”
“Lisa” is Lisa Storie Avenatti, the estranged wife of Michael Avenatti. As Inquisitr reported, TMZ initially claimed that Storie was the alleged victim in the incident, but after she denied that she was the victim, saying she had not even seen her husband for “months,” TMZ quickly “updated” its story to note that the alleged victim was “a different woman.”
The identity of the victim in the case has not been made public, nor have the details of her allegations against Avenatti. An anonymous Los Angeles police source told The Los Angeles Times that the victim had “visible injuries.”
Shortly after Avenatti’s arrest Wednesday, high-profile Trump supporter Jacob Wohl, who had previously been implicated in a scheme to make false criminal charges against Special Counsel Robert Mueller, appeared to claim credit for somehow engineering Avenatti’s arrest, Inquisitr reported.
Avenatti in a separate Twitter post denied the details in the TMZ article, including TMZ‘s claim that the face of the victim was “swollen and bruised” and showed “red marks.”
“Lisa wasn’t even there, there was no woman on the sidewalk, there was no incident in the lobby, there was no attempt to get on the elevator, there was no red marks/bruises on a face, etc.,” Avenatti wrote. “It is Trump’s sycophant Levin (just like Pecker) trying to save him.”
“Levin” is Harvey Levin (pictured above), the TMZ founder and chief who has been described in the media as “Trump’s best friend,” for his site’s editorial support of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and afterward. According to an investigation by The Daily Beast, Levin and Trump enjoyed “a cozy relationship” and “called each other throughout the campaign.” Levin would often make remarks about becoming Trump’s press secretary after the election, The Daily Beast reported.
On Thursday, as Inquisitr reported, a top opposition researcher for the Republican National Committee filed formal requests for all police records, including video and audio, relating to Avenatti’s arrest, leading Avenatti to say, “As if there was a doubt politics was involved, there can now be none.”
I just received a call from Sinclair broadcasting asking me for comment on a claim that the incident being reported about was actually with a man. Completely bogus and false. If anyone thinks the right does not see me as a threat to Trump, they are living under a rock.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) November 16, 2018
In another Friday morning Twitter post, Avenatti said, “If anyone thinks the right does not see me as a threat to Trump, they are living under a rock.”
