BUILD ME UP?

Cohen Plea: Michael Avenatti Tells Rudy Giuliani to ‘Buckle Up Buttercup’

“Michael and I are vindicated,” Stormy Daniels said in a statement.

After it was announced that former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen had reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors Tuesday, Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti sent a taunting tweet directed at the president’s current counsel. “Buckle Up Buttercup. You and your client completely misplayed this,” Avenatti tweeted at Rudy Giuliani. He also quote-tweeted a journalist announcing Cohen’s 4 p.m. hearing in Manhattan federal court, and insisted that the developments would lead to an “expedited deposition” of Trump in Daniels’ civil case against the president. In another tweet, Avenatti praised Daniels’ courage, saying she “has refused to be silent, who has refused to back down, and who has allowed facts to be presented in the court of public opinion, which some may argue is the most efficient.” He added that history will “treat her as a hero.” Daniels also commented publicly on the proceedings, telling NBC News in a statement that “Michael and I are vindicated and we look forward to the apologies from the people who claimed we were wrong.”

At the Tuesday afternoon hearing, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts: five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a financial institution, one count of causing an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution.