Since the first time Stormy Daniels and her lawyer Michael Avenatti appeared on The View, Michael Cohen plead guilty to paying her off on behalf of President Donald Trump.
When she heard the news, Daniels said Wednesday morning, “It hit me so hard. And I didn't really think that it was going to. Like out of all the things that people have said to me, all the things that have happened, that news is what was like a punch in the gut.”
“I was so overwhelmed, I just broke down into sobs,” she continued. “I didn't realize how much pressure I had felt. People called me all kinds of names, and who cares, but to be called a liar and not believed for months and months, it had taken its toll.” Daniels said she felt “vindicated” and “like all this weight came off my shoulders.”
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Asked if he believes Trump’s insistence that he only knew about the payments after Cohen made them, Avenatti said, “No, I don't believe that at all. I do not believe that Michael Cohen undertook this on his own without the knowledge of Donald Trump. I think that both of them conspired together.” As co-host Joy Behar put it: “We heard the tape.”
As for why Trump and his lawyers have decided not to enforce Daniels’ non-disclosure agreement, Avenatti added, “I think they pulled it because they're very concerned that we’re going to get a chance to depose Michael Cohen and Donald Trump and they don't want me to have an opportunity to ask Donald Trump questions under oath and for him to have to answer those questions and then for the world to hear those answers because I think it’s going to be very, very damaging to Michael Cohen and Donald Trump. They’re doing everything they can to avoid that situation.”
“Have I really been respecting that anyway?” Daniels asked, rhetorically, of the NDA.
Given that she no longer has to abide by that agreement, Daniels had big news to announce on The View. Following the success of tell-all books about Trump’s White House from Omarosa Manigault Newman and Bob Woodward, she too has a book coming out next month. That’s right, Full Disclosure is officially slated for an October 2nd release.
“You were only with Donald Trump for, what, two times?” Behar asked. “How much can you disclose?”
“There’s a lot in the book but the book isn’t just about that, that doesn’t define me,” Daniels answered, predicting that the book with “blow your mind.”
“The president just puckered,” Avenatti chimed in. More seriously, he added, “The first time that I read this manuscript, I had to put it down three times because I was so moved by this book. This is an incredible book, and I think people are going to be very moved by this book, by its content, and they’re going to learn a lot about this incredible woman who I am proud to call my client and my friend because she’s had an amazing life.”
Of course, the hosts of The View could not let Avenatti go without asking him about his possible run for president in 2020. Asked if she would endorse him, Daniels said, “I haven’t decided. I’m going to let him sweat it out a little longer.”
“If you can’t get Stormy…,” Abby Huntsman replied.
“I’m not running yet, am I?” Avenatti said. haven’t made a determination. “I'm going to continue to travel around the country and talk to people and see if they’re supportive. If they are, then I’m going to do it. Look, we’ve got a lot at stake in 2020. The democrats can’t get this wrong, and whoever they nominate better be a fighter and they better be able to beat Donald Trump. If they can’t do that, they don’t have any business running.”
