Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, reportedly sought help from major Democratic Party donors in his legal battle against President Trump, The New York Times reports. Sources told the newspaper that Avenatti, whose client claims she had an affair with the president, contacted an “official in the network of liberal groups led by David Brock” and someone from his law office spoke to “two people connected to major Democratic donors.” Avenatti specifically contacted the president of super PAC American Bridge, and sought as much as $2 million from “major Democratic donors or groups.” The conversations do not “appear” to have resulted in financial gain for the case. American Bridge reportedly saw “saw little value” in giving money to a legal fight that was being hashed out in the media, and it is unclear why the other conversations did not result in donations. Avenatti has maintained that Daniels has not actively sought to raise political donations, and told the Times that the case had nothing to do with politics. “I can’t tell you the name of every person that I have spoken to, or not spoken to, over the last three months,” he said. “But what I can tell you is that we have not taken any political-associated dollars from anyone on the right or anyone on the left. Period.”