Do MSNBC and CNN regret giving Michael Avenatti so much airtime?

The Washington Post

Now that Stormy Daniels' former attorney is in hot water for crimes he allegedly committed, his 121 appearances on CNN and 108 appearances on MSNBC are coming under scrutiny. The Washington Post's Erik Wemple describes CNN and MSNBC's relationship with Avenatti as "a love affair. Because they’re cable-news channels with too much time on their hands, CNN and MSNBC did what they do, which is to go overboard." For his part, Avenatti tells Wemple: “The reason why I was able to appear on cable news so often was because I was credible and I was incredibly effective on that medium. And I’m still incredibly effective on that medium and I’m still credible.” Avenatti, who says cable news "created opportunities, and I took advantage of those opportunities," even thinks Mayor Pete Buttigieg is using his model to gain TV exposure. “To a significant degree he’s followed my model, which is — he’s made himself available and he’s effective on television,” says Avenatti. While CNN declined to comment to Wemple, MSNBC said of Avenatti: "We appropriately covered a high-profile legal matter surrounding the President of the United States." Rachel Maddow also defended her interview of Avenatti, saying: "The fact remains that the campaign finance story he brought to the fore resulted in federal charges, a guilty plea, a prison sentence, and prosecutors implicating the President of the United States in directing the commission of two felonies."