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From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American Scandal.

On this show, we look at the darker side of business, politics, sports and society to better understand the forces behind corruption and deceit in our country.

What exactly drives someone to break the rules and what happens when they get caught? Scandals have shaped America since its founding and were confronted with new ones every day.

So from time to time, we want to take a break from our deep dives into the scandals of the past to explore today's biggest outrages.

That's what we're doing today. We've got a special interview with a reporter who's been following one of the most controversial figures of 2018 and 2019.

My client took this polygraph test in May of 2011, May 19, 2011. She was asked specific questions.

She passed with flying colors as the polygraph report that we produced shows.

Michael Avonotti is a lawyer, turned celebrity, who represented Stephanie Clifford or Stormy Daniels in her legal dispute with President Trump and Michael Cohn in 2018.

Daniels, an adult film star, alleged Trump and his team paid her $130,000 in hush money to keep silent about an affair she said she had with Trump back in 2006.

She hired Avonotti to get out of her non-disclosure agreement, one that she says was invalid because Trump never signed it.

Where is this guy? Why won't he come and say no, why won't he come and say obviously, wait a minute, let me finish.

I want to get to that question. You can be invited numerous times.

He's dodging the question. He is not dodging the question.

Where is the guy? Avonotti took his case to the court of public opinion and became a fixture on cable tell of the news.

He was a fixture on cable television news throughout 2018. He railed against President Trump, Michael Cohn and their lawyers and became something of a folk hero to many who oppose the president.

I believe that our party, the Democratic Party, must be a party that fights fire with fire.

Avonotti even announced plans to run for President in 2020 as a Democrat.

But just as his star was rising, reports about his past started to come out.

Bankruptcies, tax evasion, fraud, and a new charge attempting to extort Nike.

Just last week, Avonotti was indicted on 36 counts by a federal grand jury in California.

A host of tax offenses concealment of funds and embezzlement of client money.

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