“The source or sources of our information is our work product, and nobody’s business.»
The Treasury Department’s inspector general is looking into how Michael Avenatti, who represents adult film star Stormy Daniels, gained access to confidential banking information regarding a company controlled by President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
According to the Post, the counsel to the inspector general, Rich Delmar, said the office will be “inquiring into allegations” that Suspicious Activity Reports filed regarding Cohen’s bank transactions were “improperly disseminated.”
Avenatti has refused to explain how he obtained the reports.
“The source or sources of our information is our work product, and nobody’s business,” he reportedly said in an interview. “They can investigate all they want, but what they should be doing is releasing to the American public the three Suspicious Activity Reports filed on Michael Cohen’s account. Why are they hiding this information?”
A spokesperson for First Republic, Cohen’s bank, refused the Post’s request for comment.
The news comes after Avenatti accused Cohen of accepting $500,000 from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It appears that these funds may have replenished the account following the payment to Ms. Clifford,” the report he released via Twitter said.
It also detailed four payments totaling $399,920 paid to Cohen by Novartis, a global pharmaceutical company, and payments from aircraft manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries.
Cohen has been in the headlines since it was revealed that he paid Daniels $130,000 to ensure her silence regarding an affair she claims she had with President Trump in 2006.
Rudy Giuliani, a new addition to Trump’s legal team, shared for the first time last week that the president reimbursed Cohen for the money he paid to Daniels in order to ensure the hush agreement.
Until then, the president had claimed he was unaware of the payment.
The Trump legal team maintains that no campaign funds were used to repay Cohen.
Kelcey Caulder is a News Fellow at IJR. Previously, she worked with the web team at the Los Angeles Times and led the Student Press Law Center’s campa… more
