Michael Avenatti is having a very very bad day. He was arrested twice. Yes, twice. He’s charged with embezzlement, IRS fraud, and trying to extort millions from Nike. Wait what? Nike??
Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti was arrested Monday on charges of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to reveal claims of misconduct by company employees.
Yes, he really was going to try and extort money from Nike. He even tweeted about it this morning!
Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered. This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 25, 2019
Barely 15 minutes after he sent that tweet, he got arrested. So much for his grandstanding. Instead, the press conferences going on in New York and California are about all the charges against him.
Back to the Nike extortion for a minute.
Amazing. Avenatti, speaking directly with Nike's lawyers, allegedly threatened to extort the company. The lawyers immediately called up the Justice Department and set up a recorded sting of Avenatti reiterating his allegedly criminal demands pic.twitter.com/6PkOUjsH7F
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 25, 2019
Folks, he started the Nike extortion scheme barely a week ago! Nike was smart and immediately ran to the authorities to get help catching him in the act. And sure enough, with recordings of calls and filming face-to-face meetings, they did.
https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1110231558265266176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1110231558265266176&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fsarahd-313035%2F2019%2F03%2F25%2Fthe-hits-keep-coming-michael-avenattis-facing-multiple-federal-charges-and-the-details-are-just-delicious-screenshots%2F
Whomever Avenatti’s client was that wanted Nike to pony up around $25 million to make them go away has to be running scared right about now. Then again, if you are stupid enough to hire the creepy porn lawyer…
As for the second arrest, California wants to have a word with Avenatti, as does the IRS.
In the Los Angeles federal case, Avenatti is accused in a 197-page complaint of negotiating a $1.6 million settlement for a client in a civil case, but then giving the client “a bogus settlement agreement with a false payment date of March 10, 2018,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
That office said “Avenatti misappropriated his client’s settlement money and used it to pay expenses for his coffee business, Global Baristas US LLC, which operated Tully’s Coffee stores in California and Washington state, as well as for his own expenses.”
“When the fake March 2018 deadline passed and the client asked where the money was, Avenatti continued to conceal that the payment had already been received, court documents said,” according to prosecutors.
“A lawyer has a basic duty not to steal from his client,” said U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles Nick Hanna.
“Mr. Avenatti is facing serious criminal charges alleging he misappropriated client trust funds for his personal use and he defrauded a bank by submitting phony tax returns in order to obtain millions of dollars in loans.”
The dude is in serious trouble. There are so many charges against him that he’s facing at least 50 years in prison. He didn’t pay taxes for four years, ginned up phony tax returns to scam money from others, gypped at least one or more of his clients from their money, and still owes the IRS at least $850,000!
Officials call Michael Avenatti "a corrupt lawyer" who "fights for his own selfish interests," say the allegations against him "paint an ugly picture of lawless conduct and greed" https://t.co/HuSzfp0oip pic.twitter.com/9SF1l5Yncv
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 25, 2019
You can read both the New York and Los Angeles complaints here.
Two things about this. CNN is on a roll today. First, they have egg all over their faces regarding their Trump Russia Collusion spin for the last two years. Secondly, they have been fangirling all over Avenatti for months or more. In fact, he appeared on CNN and MSNBC 108 times in a two month period!
So what is CNN doing now? Asking us via Brian Stelter to take a break from watching them.
Want a break from the Mueller, Trump, Avenatti news cycle? Here's the live stream for Apple's news + entertainment event https://t.co/geuJ2heiqm
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 25, 2019
At least it will give them time to figure out how to spin all this through the rakes smacking them in the face!
One more item regarding Avenatti’s arrest. His Nike extortion co-conspirator has been identified.
NEW: We report that alleged co-conspirator with @michaelavenatti in federally charged extortion scheme is celebrity attorney Mark Geragos @markgeragos Avenatti was recorded by lawyers at Boies Schiller @bsfllp with @rebeccadobrien
https://t.co/ZDJttHitNP via @WSJ— Michael Rothfeld (@mrothfeld) March 25, 2019
No wonder CNN wants us to stop watching! Geragos is a CNN contributor and also was, or still is, Jussie Smollett’s attorney!
Now Michael Avenatti’s chickens are coming home to roost. SAD!
Feature Photo Credit: Luke Harold via Wikimedia commons, cropped and modified
Five-will-get-you-ten in your Hell On Earth World, he’ll still try to run for President in 2020. He’ll certainly be in good company in the Primary. Honor among thieves.
Avenatti and Geragos are doing a great service. Occasionally one of my students contemplates going to law school. I hate the idea but also hate discouraging people. Now I can say “great! Here are some famous attorneys. You could follow in their footsteps.” That should cure them.
First off:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOifa1WrOnQ
Second, you know who Mark Geragos has represented, right? Besides Michael Jackson and Scott Petersen?
——- Colin Kaepernick ———–
You know, the guy who wonderful Nike gave an endorsement to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A0_2l2NWNs
And, oh yes, I love the “15 minutes after the tweet he was arrested” bit!
(How much you wanna bet they were waiting for that as their “constructive steps” moment?)
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
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