"She touches on the fact, for instance, that Donald Trump was conspiring with her or suggesting to her that he would assist her in cheating on the show 'The Apprentice' and would devise a strategy whereby she could stay on the show longer than she otherwise would stay on the show," Avenatti said. "I mean I think that says a lot about the lack of integrity of Donald Trump as a man. I mean this is an individual that lies on a consistent basis, has no qualms about lying to the American people about any number of far more important things than 'The Apprentice.'"
What Trump likely never knew is that the 1950s Quiz Show Scandal prompted Congress to act on laws and regulations that prevented such rigging.
As televisions became more and more popular in homes across the world, quiz shows went from radio to the new medium. "What Do You Know?" became a famous show that was found to have given more attractive contestants on the show the answers to the questions. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called the ordeal "a terrible thing to do to the American people."
"One producer confessed that 75 percent of his contestants were coached beforehand, and another said that the 'fixing' of quiz shows had been standard practice for 'many, many years,' the [House] committee was left to ponder the expert assurance of the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission that the commission has no power to censor the content of any television programme and had never tried for fear of offending 'the American people’s passion for freedom of speech,'" The Guardian reported.
Congress' Communications Act in 1960 dealt with fair competition and disclosures. While Trump's "Apprentice" was a reality show, it was also considered by the FCC to be a competition show. Shows were required to disclose that contestants were given "pay offs" and "other deceptive broadcasting practices," the CQ Almanac detailed.
Among other things, the Act directed, "any station employee who accepted a payment, or any person making one, to report the payment to the station prior to the broadcast."
The law also says Trump cannot "engage in any artifice or scheme for the purpose of prearranging or predetermining in whole or in part the outcome of a purportedly bona fide contest of intellectual knowledge, intellectual skill, or chance."
The penalties outlined are a maximum fine of $10,000 and one-year imprisonment." Oops.
Avanatti also brought up the details about the president's genitalia that Daniels included in her upcoming tell-all book. He wondered if Sarah Huckabee Sanders would be trying to refut the information herself, which would require her to confirm Daniels' description.
Actor Tom Arnold, who was a friend with Trump and his "Apprentice" producer, said that they followed FCC regulations that say conversations between the host and producers must be filmed. For that reason, Arnold said the tapes exist of Trump saying any manner of obscene things. Arnold also said that these tapes were handed over to Ronan Farrow this week.
Watch the interview below:
