'Buckle Up Buttercup': Avenatti Licks His Chops After Michael Cohen Plea Deal Reported

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney and fixer, entered a tentative plea deal with federal prosecutors on Tuesday that potentially includes bank fraud, tax evasion, and campaign finance violations, ABC News reported.

"Given Cohen's proximity to Trump during the past decade, including throughout his meteoric rise from mogul and reality television star to the White House, observers consider him one of most potent legal thorns to confront Trump's presidency since he took office," ABC notes.

In response to reports of the Cohen plea agreement, Michael Avenatti, the personal attorney of adult film actress Stormy Daniels, tweeted a jab at Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani:

"I'm not surprised by the news. The only thing that I'm surprised about is that it took this long," Avenatti added in an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday.

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Rick Hasen, professor of law and political science at the University of California Irvine, pointed out that "if Cohen pleads guilty in connection with [the] campaign finance case, that could directly implicate Trump."

Former White House ethics czar and chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) Norm Eisen added:

While a tentative agreement between Cohen and prosecutors has reportedly been reached, news outlets were quick to caution—citing sources familiar with the talks—that negotiations are not finalized and could still collapse.

Additionally, as ABC's chief legal analyst Dan Abrams observed, a plea deal does not mean that Cohen has agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.