EXCLUSIVE
Stormy Daniels[1] is getting a huge financial assist from the public in her legal battle with Donald Trump[2], but while the donations pile up ... so do questions about the loot.
Stormy opened a crowdfunding page Wednesday, asking for donations to support her legal effort to get the "hush" agreement[3] with the Prez tossed. So far she's raised more than $80k in the first 12 hours, and plans to keep collecting for another month. At that pace, she's easily looking at a 7-figure kitty ... possible more.
She doesn't list a goal amount, so we called Stormy's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, and asked how much he's billed so far -- to get a sense of what the final bill might be. He wouldn't say.
Avenatti did tell TMZ, he's NOT billing her for his media blitz, which include appearances on "Today," "CBS This Morning," multiple CNN and MSNBC shows, ABC ... plus the NY Times, NY Daily News, Washington Post, and NPR.
Stormy's page says the money's for attorneys' fees and litigation costs, as well as possible "damages that may be awarded against me if I speak out."
Avenatti did say Stormy will donate the extra cash to charity, but there's no mention of that on the crowdfunding post. We're guessing donors don't know their dough might go to charity, instead of her anti-Trump cause.
BTW, most people who donate to charity also want a tax deduction, which they won't get here.
References
- ^ Stormy Daniels (www.tmz.com)
- ^ Donald Trump (www.tmz.com)
- ^ "hush" agreement (www.tmz.com)