Timeline: Stormy Daniels, Trump allegations and Michael Avenatti
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, and her attorney Michael Avenatti talk to reporters outside federal court in New York, April 16, 2018. Avenatti was convicted Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, by a jury on charges that he cheated her out of nearly $300,000 she was supposed to get for writing a book about an alleged tryst with former president Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)
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(NewsNation Now) — The conviction of attorney Michael Avenatti capped a lengthy and complicated chapter in the nation’s history — one that centered around adult film actress Stormy Daniels and loomed over former President Donald Trump’s candidacy and presidential term.
In the wake of the trial, Daniels is scheduled to appear Tuesday as a guest on NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live” at 8 p.m. ET.
Here’s a brief look at Daniels’ history in the political sphere, her disputed relationship with the former president and the release of her tell-all book.
2006-2017
2006 — According to Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, she and Trump began an “intimate relationship” continuing “well into the year 2007.”
2011 — Daniels said a man warned her to keep quiet about any encounters with Trump. Daniels said she and her daughter were approached in a Las Vegas parking lot by a man who said something along the lines of: “Oh it’s a beautiful little girl, would be a shame if something happened to her mom. Forget about this story, leave Mr. Trump alone.”
Days before the November 2016 election, Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said it is “absolutely, unequivocally” untrue that Daniels and Trump had a relationship.
2017 — Trump’s personal financial disclosure form was certified, with no listed debt to Cohen.
2018
Jan. 12 — The Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen had arranged the payment to Daniels in October 2016 to keep her from publicly discussing the alleged sexual encounter.
Feb. 13 — Cohen acknowledged he paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to Daniels, saying he was not reimbursed by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign. He notably did not say whether the president personally reimbursed him.
March 7 — Attorney Michael Avenatti filed a lawsuit on behalf of Daniels in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump has “made very well clear that none of these allegations are true.”
March 25 — In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Daniels said she was threatened to keep her silent.
May 2 — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, representing Trump at the time, told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 paid to Daniels. Giuliani said the money to repay Cohen had been “funneled … through the law firm and the president repaid it.”
Giuliani said the payment “is going to turn out to be perfectly legal. That money was not campaign money.”
Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said, “He didn’t know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this.”
Oct. 2 — Daniels’ book “Full Disclosure” was released, revealing details about what she described as her sexual encounter with Trump and communications afterward.
After Daniels signed the book deal, Avenatti was enlisted to write the forward. The relationship between the two fell apart after Daniels said she learned that Avenatti had taken a share of her $800,000 book deal for himself.
About a half-year after the book was published, Avenatti was charged in three criminal cases, including the fraud he was alleged to have carried out against Daniels.
After his arrest, Avenatti insisted in Twitter posts that no money related to Daniels was ever misappropriated or mishandled and that he mostly worked unpaid for Daniels with an agreement that he would receive a percentage of any book proceeds.
2022
Feb. 2 — A jury trial began in Avanetti’s case stemming from Daniels’ allegations. The attorney represented himself throughout the trial, and questioned Daniels about her alleged experiences with ghosts, including physical attacks from invisible assailants, a doll who calls her “mommy” and the ability to communicate with dead people.
Feb. 4 — Avenatti was convicted of charges alleging that he cheated Daniels out of nearly $300,000 she was supposed to get for writing a book about an alleged tryst with Trump.
U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered Avenatti to surrender Monday to U.S. marshals in California. Avenatti has delayed serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for his 2020 conviction in an extortion case while waiting for the book proceeds trial and the retrial of a fraud case in a California federal court.
Sentencing is set for May 24.