Michael Avenatti denies slowing US attorney investigation into Stormy Daniels payout

The attorney for porn actress Stormy Daniels flatly denied a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that he was frustrating federal prosecutors investigating a hush-money payout by President Donald Trump's longtime attorney Michael Cohen.

Michael Avenatti responded to the report Monday morning that claimed he was slowing efforts to review communications between Daniels and her previous attorney by investigators in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, reported Business Insider.

The Journal reported that Avenatti sent a cease-and-desist letter to attorney Keith Davidson, who represented Daniels when the $130,000 nondisclosure agreement was reached, and demanded to review documents subpoenaed from former Daniels manager Gina Rodriquez.

Avenatti questioned the story's facts and criticized the reporting by a team that has broken previous stories in the Daniels-Cohen saga.

"Any media report citing 'unnamed sources' (and not a single document) suggesting we are delaying the investigation into Mr. Cohen and DJT is completely false and without basis," Avenatti said. "We have already waived the privilege as to a host of docs and communications to ensure justice is done."

The attorney insisted that he and Daniels were cooperating with federal prosecutors as part of the broader investigation into the president and his associates.

"We continue to communicate with the fine attys of the SDNY on a regular basis as part of our cooperation with the govt investigation," Avenatti tweeted. "It has been delayed by the refusal of people to promptly turn over docs for our review. If necessary, we will file suit against them. #Basta"

Avenatti agreed with a Twitter follower that the Journal report appeared to be a "hit piece," and said the report was "completely bogus."

The newspaper reported that Avenatti has failed to act on multiple requests by federal prosecutors to waive attorney-client privilege between Daniels and Davidson, and sent cease-and-desist letters to the lawyer and Rodriguez regarding their work for the adult film actress.