Michael Avenatti is broke and can't afford legal defense, lawyer claims

Mr Avenatti is living in California with friend after temporary release from federal prison due to coronavirus

Michael Avenatti, the attorney who formerly represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her case against Donald Trump, is reportedly broke after facing legal issues of his own.

According to the New York Post, Dean Steward, an attorney representing Mr Avenatti, said the lawyer's financial problems have left him without the means to defend himself in upcoming court battles.

"The bottom line is that Mr Avenatti has run out of funds and faces a complex trial lasting as long as six weeks," Mr Steward wrote to a judge overseeing one of Mr Avenatti's upcoming court cases.

Mr Avenatti — who ran a short-lived presidential campaign in 2018 — is facing charges related to tax evasion, approximately three dozen counts of fraud, was convicted of attempting to extort the Nike shoe company and was accused of trying to skim money from Stormy Daniels while she was his client.

Mr Steward wrote that Mr Avenatti has run out of money and has offered to stay on as his lawyer if he can receive payment under the rules regarding poor clients.

"The retainer has long since run out and the defendant does not have funds to pay counsel," Mr Steward wrote.

Mr Steward — who has been representing Mr Avenatti for more than a year — argued that allowing him to stay on would save taxpayer dollars, as assigning Mr Avenatti a public defender would prolong the upcoming cases.

Mr Avenatti has maintained that he has done nothing wrong and that all of the accusations against him are false.

The lawyer is currently under house arrest. He is staying with a friend in Venice Beach, California, where he is being monitored by federal officials.

During his house arrest, Mr Avenatti has been barred from possessing or using any digital devices that give him access to the internet.

He was released from federal incarceration due to the coronavirus. His $1m bond was posted by his friend, Hubert Bromma.