Apparently, disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti has now had his $250 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News dismissed because the judge reported that the new organization had accurately reported the charges against him.
You all probably remember Michael Avenatti because he was among one of the main critics of former President Donald Trump as he represented Stormy Daniels, a porn star who accused the former president of paying her off so that she would stay quiet about their alleged extramarital affair. Indeed, Avenatti had quite a meteoric rise for a while. There were even some on the left floating his name as a potential contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. However, that all came crashing down when he was convicted of extortion against Nike, Inc.
Last Friday, Avenatti, 50, was handed yet another courtroom defeat. It is more karma for the disgraced attorney.
U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas issued his ruling about the Fox News report, saying that almost all of what they said about Avenatti was “substantially” true. “And Avenatti does not plausibly plead that Fox or its employees knew that the statements were false or recklessly disregarded that possibility,” he explained. “He also fails to allege any recoverable damages.”
Avenatti also argued that Fox News had gotten his 2018 domestic violence case wrong when they reported that he had been charged. Avenatti posited that in reality he had been arrested but not charged. However, the judge simply passed that off as a “minor error.”
Fox News has now issued a statement regarding this ruling.
“We are pleased with the Court’s swift decision in favor of FOX News,” the network said. “Today’s ruling is a victory for journalists everywhere, who should not be intimidated into silence when bullies like Michael Avenatti file baseless multimillion-dollar lawsuits.”
They sentenced Avenatti to 30 months in prison after he was convicted of extortion. Now, he is not only facing a prison term, but he is also looking at lawsuits from former clients who have accused him of embezzlement, and he has a suit against him from Stormy Daniels, who is claiming that he stole money from her. Of course, he is denying all of these claims, but I guess that what goes around comes around after all.