Federal prosecutors have canceled their planned interview with Stormy Daniels Monday, according to Daniels’ attorney.
In a tweet late Sunday, attorney Michael Avenatti said prosecutors were canceling their meeting with the adult film actress because of media attention.
“So I was just informed by the US Attys office that they are cancelling the mtg tmrw scheduled with me and my client (for weeks) because the press found out about the mtg and they can’t handle a few cameras outside their offices,” he said.
The US attorney’s office had no comment earlier Sunday when word leaked out about the session.
The interview had been expected to focus on the $130,000 hush money Daniels received in 2016 from Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump about a decade earlier, which Trump denies.
Avenatti went on to say: “If they consider this a big deal, how will they ever bring any serious criminal charges against Cohen et al, let alone handle a trial in such a high profile matter?
“We have bent over backwards to accommodate them. This is unheard of. We remain willing to cooperate but something isn’t right …”
ever bring any serious criminal charges against Cohen et al., let alone handle a trial, in such a high profile matter? We have bent over backwards to accommodate them. This is unheard of. We remain willing to cooperate but something isn’t right…
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) 25 June 2018
Avenatti later tweeted out an email he sent to federal prosecutors in response to the cancellation, saying: “They don’t appear to have the stomach for a case of this magnitude.”
In the email, Avenatti says, “We believe canceling the meeting because the press has now caught wind of it is ridiculous. We do not think it was any secret that at some point you were going to meet with my client. And the fact that cameras may be present outside of your office is no moment. Further, this fact, while annoying, has no impact on the substance of the meeting, which should be the focus.”
A source familiar with the matter told CNN earlier Sunday the interview with prosecutors from the Southern District of New York scheduled for Monday afternoon was in advance of Daniels’ grand jury testimony.