Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti appears to be going off the rails following recent reports shedding light on his past.

Avenatti sent a threatening email to The Daily Caller's Peter Hasson after he and Joe Simonson reported on a variety of questionable business dealings - using publicly available information, such as a complaint to the California bar claiming his now-defunct venture into the coffee industry dodged millions in taxes after he mislead a business partner (who sued). Avenatti also reportedly stiffed a vendor on a $160,000 payment - which has since been paid following negative press.

“Michael Avenatti never notified me that he intended to have or caused Global Baristas to borrow $2,000,000 for working capital, nor did he notify me that he planned to have or caused the company to pledge substantially all, if not all, of its assets to secure any loan,” Dempsey charged. Avenatti denied the accusations but agreed to a settlement just three days later. -Actor Patrick Dempsey as reported by The Daily Caller

Avenetti starts off his threatening email to The Daily Caller by trying to claim that the email was "off the record," which - as short-lived White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci discovered doesn't fly when you're talking to a journalist who hasn't agreed to it.

Nope. It would've been unethical for Peter to honor an "off the record" request he didn't agree to. That's no longer a request, it's a demand, one that journalists are not obligated to follow. Peter has to agree to it too. Mooch made the same mistake during that call last year — Gene Park (@GenePark) May 14, 2018

“Let me be clear," Avenatti writes, "If you and your colleagues do not stop with the hit pieces that are full of lies and defamatory statements, I will have no choice but to sue each of you and your publication for defamation.” Avenatti added that “During that process, we will expose your publication for what it truly is. We will also recover significant damages against each of you that participated personally. So if I were you, I would tell Mr. Trump to find someone else to fabricate things about me.”

“If you think I’m kidding, you really don’t know anything about me. This is the last warning," Avenatti warned.

.@MichaelAvenatti sent me an email this morning threatening to sue me and my colleagues for reporting on him — Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) May 14, 2018

Note: @MichaelAvenatti tried to call this off record, which of course aren't terms I agreed to since it was an uninvited email pic.twitter.com/Ve6Guftwqq — Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) May 14, 2018

#Avenatti cannot even write a defamation letter correctly. He fails to identify any actual defamation or a single false statement about him in the article. Probably because there isn't any. https://t.co/TIo8eK1uZE — Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) May 14, 2018

Avenatti's threats received an immediate pushback - with CNN's Ryan Lizza commenting "This is the sort of intimidation tactic, suggesting a complete contempt for what reporters do, that someone like Michael Cohen would use," adding "It seems fair and well-reported to me. If there is something specific that is false Avenatti should point that out rather than threatening the reporters."

This is the sort of intimidation tactic, suggesting a complete contempt for what reporters do, that someone like Michael Cohen would use. https://t.co/X8Dm3PTTWC — Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) May 14, 2018

Here is the original article: https://t.co/fbjURxGkfG



It seems fair and well-reported to me. If there is something specific that is false Avenatti should point that out rather than threatening the reporters. — Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) May 14, 2018

NBC Nightly News' Daniel Medina tweeted "I'm guessing there would be more outrage at this behavior from @MichaelAvenatti if @peterjhasson were not from a conservative publication. As reporters, we must stand together, regardless of where we work, against these type of bullying tactics that seek to stifle reporting."

I'm guessing there would be more outrage at this behavior from @MichaelAvenatti if @peterjhasson were not from a conservative publication. As reporters, we must stand together, regardless of where we work, against these type of bullying tactics that seek to stifle reporting. https://t.co/X8SsuJGPvb — Daniel Medina (@dmedin11) May 14, 2018

The Hill's Julia Manchester says "it's cray", while the Daily Beast's Gideon Resnick calls it "bonkers", while others even went so far as calling it "insane."

lol this email is bonkers https://t.co/BGxCKELfd3 — Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) May 14, 2018

What’s absolutely insane to me is the defense that it’s okay to look into the presidents background, but not okay to look into the background of a person seeking to take him down. Thank you for actually doing your jobs when few others would. — Richard Armande Mills (RAM) (@RAMRANTS) May 14, 2018

Hasson and Simonson don't seem too worried...

In other news I had just a great latte — Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) May 14, 2018

congrats to @MichaelAvenatti for getting me and @peterjhasson our second drudge hit of the dayhttps://t.co/2lExMphdYO — Joe Simonson is under attack by Michael Avenatti (@SaysSimonson) May 14, 2018