Community Corner
Michael Avenatti Joins Statue Of Liberty Climber's Defense Team
Days after ruling out a presidential run, the brash lawyer said he will help defend Patricia Okoumou, the activist who scaled Lady Liberty.
NEW YORK — Michael Avenatti has joined the legal team defending the activist who scaled the Statue of Liberty this summer, adding another headling-grabbing client to his roster. The brash lawyer best known for representing the porn star Stormy Daniels said he'll be helping defend Therese Patricia Okoumou against the charges she faces for her Independence Day protest.
"Patricia and I are both passionate advocates of mothers, fathers and children separated at our southern border as a result of the draconian policies of Donald Trump and his cronies," Avenatti said Thursday in a statement posted to Twitter. "I look forward to assisting in her defense and cause."
Okoumou, of Staten Island, climbed the Statue of Liberty's base on July 4 to protest the Trump administration's separation of immigrant families. She's set to go to trial Dec. 17 on federal misdemeanor charges of trespassing, interference with government agency functions and disorderly conduct.
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The civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby and his associate, Rhiya Trivedi, are leading Okoumou's defense. Avenatti has not been named an attorney for Okoumou in federal court records. Kuby told amNewYork that he'll be playing an "advisory role" in the case.
No stranger to the media spotlight, Avenatti announced his work for Okoumou just days after ruling out a run for president in 2020. In addition to leading Daniels's lawsuit against President Donald Trump, he's represented clients such as a Honduran family separated at the southern border and a woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.
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The California-based attorney has run into his own legal trouble — he was arrested on a domestic violence charge last month, which he has denied, and his law firm was reportedly evicted from its offices in October.
Okoumou has also embraced the limelight, wearing anti-Trump clothes to court and once singing a profane song to reporters. She said in a tweet that she's "excited" to have Avenatti on her legal team.
(Lead image: Michael Avenatti speaks onstage during Politicon in Los Angeles in October 2018. Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Politicon)
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