Attorney Michael Avenatti defends his threats against reporters: 'There's good journalists and there's bad journalists'


Attorney Michael Avenatti found himself on the defensive Monday night, after a reporter at The Daily Caller published an email in which Avenatti threatens to sue the publication over unfavorable coverage. Avenatti, who is representing adult film star Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against President Trump, appeared to take a page from the president's book when he defended himself to CNN's Don Lemon: "All journalists are not ethical just because they're a journalist," he said. "There's good journalists and there's bad journalists."
Avenatti added: "If we encounter journalists that don't get their facts straight by design, don't follow basic standards of journalism, purposefully skew stories to fit their own political dialogue on what they want the message to be, we're going to continue to call them out on that."
Despite the cries of "fake news," journalists came to the defense of The Daily Caller's Peter J. Hasson after Avenatti's attacks, justifying the article as "fair and well-reported."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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