'Michael Cohen is neither a hero nor a patriot': Michael Avenatti reacts to former Trump lawyer's 36-month prison sentence

• Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti said Michael Cohen is not a hero for coming clean.
• Cohen, Avenatti said, deserves "every day" of his three-year sentence.
• To Trump, Avenatti tweeted a warning "You are next."

Minutes after former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in prison, Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels' lawyer, said Cohen is "neither a hero nor a patriot."

Standing outside New York's Southern District Court after Cohen's sentencing hearing, Avenatti said Cohen "lied for months on end about his criminal conduct and the role of the President of the United States."

"He lied in March, he lied in April, he lied in May, he lied in June, he lied in July, and only until his back was against the wall and he faced significant prison time did he decide to, quote, 'come clean,'" Avenatti said. "His choice, time and time again, was to degrade my client, seek to intimidate her, call her and me liars, and seek to degrade the office of the Presidency of the United States by seeking to buy effectively an election."

Read more: Michael Cohen says he felt it was his 'duty' to 'cover up' Trump's 'dirty deeds,' is sentenced to 3 years in prison

"He deserves every day of the 36-month sentence that he will serve," he added.

Cohen's legal troubles include a hush-payment made to Daniels, Avenatti's client, an adult-film star who said she had an affair with Trump.

Avenatti was seen walking into court Wednesday morning before Cohen's hearing began. When reporters asked him what he was doing there, he said he was there because if it weren't for client, "we wouldn't be here."

"I will also note with great irony, Michael Cohen will report to federal prison exactly one year after we filed the case on behalf of Stormy Daniels," he told reporters.

In a tweet posted after he left the court, Avenatti sent a message to President Trump: "You are next."