Disgraced television lawyer Michael Avenatti ― who was arrested Monday for a series of alleged financial crimes ― made dozens of appearances on CNN and MSNBC in a 64-day period last year, turning the anti-Trump personality into a “resistance” folk hero, according to a report.
U.S. prosecutors have charged Avenatti with extortion and bank and wire fraud. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles said Avenatti was arrested Monday in New York. Spokesman Ciaran McEvoy said the lawyer best known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against President Donald Trump faces federal charges in New York and California. In New York, he was accused of threatening to use his ability to get publicity to harm Nike. Prosecutors say he demanded that the apparel company give him $20 million.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Avenatti appeared on CNN and MSNBC between March 7th and May 10th, 2018, at least 65 times and 43 times, respectively, for a total of at least 108 appearances. Further, by analyzing the length of each appearance using the media monitoring platform TVEyes.com, Free Beacon estimated Avenatti earned around $175 million in free media from the news networks.
A breakdown by the Free Beacon of Avennatti’s media appearances are as follows:
The total came out to $174,631,598.07 from at least 65 CNN appearances and 43 MSNBC appearances. Avenatti’s favorite shows include CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” (at least 20 interviews), MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” (14), CNN’s “New Day” (12), CNN’s “Tonight with Don Lemon” (eight), and MSNBC’s “Deadline White House” (seven). – READ MORE