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CBS Reporter Acknowledges Media's Failure in Avenatti Coverage

Landon Mion
Landon Mion  |  July 09, 2021 5:00 PM

A CBS News correspondent on Friday admitted that the media covered disgraced anti-Trump attorney Michael Avenatti "the wrong way."

Avenatti, who was sentenced Thursday to two-and-a-half years in prison for attempting to extort $25 million from Nike, was fawned over by the mainstream media while representing pornography star Stormy Daniels against former President Donald Trump in 2018.

Avenatti in 2018 also falsely accused now-Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, ahead of his confirmation to the high court, of spiking drinks at parties in high school so that girls could be gang raped.

"CBS This Morning" co-host Tony Dokoupil said Friday, after reporting on Avenatti's prison sentence, that the lawyer had "big financial problems."

MSNBC interviewed Avenatti on-air 100 times in one year, "CBS This Morning" brought him on six times and CNN welcomed him to their shows 122 times.

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During one appearance on CNN, anchor Brian Stelter said that he considered the lawyer to be a real threat to Trump in the 2020 election.

"Looking ahead to 2020, one of the reasons why I'm taking you seriously as a contender is because of your presence on cable news," Stelter told Avenatti.

From 2018 to 2019, Avenatti was embraced by the mainstream media for his opposition to Trump. He was referred to by the media as a "beast," the "savior of the republic" and "Donald Trump's worst nightmare."