Stormy Daniels’ former lawyer, Michael Avenatti, was arrested on Monday. He is accused of blackmailing the sports company Nike. In the meantime, however, Avenatti is released on bail.
After it recently became known that Stormy Daniels has not been represented by Michael Avenatti for a month now and has hired a new lawyer for her legal affairs, Avenatti has to take another blow. According to the sports shoe manufacturer Nike, the star lawyer tried to blackmail the company for payment of 20 million dollars.
The Southern District prosecutor’s office in New York had accused the famous lawyer of extortion after Avenatti had announced on Twitter a press conference at which he wanted to make public details of an alleged college basketball scandal involving Nike.
The deep fall of Michael Avenatti
The arrest is the lowest point in a series of setbacks that Avenatti has suffered so far. His meteoric rise to worldwide fame was closely linked to Stormy Daniel’s claim that an affair with Donald J. Trump had led to a hush money payment in 2016 by the then-presidential candidate to the actress.
The lawyer’s star began to decline as he represented a client during the controversial hearings in front of Congress on the occasion of the vacated seat at the U.S. Supreme Court. His client made hardly credible further allegations of abuse against the nominee Brett Kavanaugh, nominated by President Donald J. Trump. The Democrats perceived the lawyer’s media campaign as damaging to the much more credible first witness against Kavanaugh.
Lost trials, allegations of abuse, investigations into breach of trust
His two lost trials for Stormy Daniels against Donald Trump did not help his reputation. In another case, the lawyer is accused by investigators in Los Angeles of misappropriating money from an unknown client and cheating a bank in Mississippi.
Does Avenatti face years in prison?
The accusations that have now led to his arrest in Nike’s case could cause Avenatti difficulties for a long time to come. Investigators claim that Avenatti threatened the company with public slander. According to Nike, Avenatti said in a telephone conversation: »Every time we got more information, that’s going to be The Washington Post, The New York Times, ESPN, a press conference, and the company will die.« So the company was to pay its client $22.5 million in damages to avoid the public war of mud. Avenatti was released on Monday for a deposit of $300,000. But this is not the end of the matter. If convicted, Avenatti could face several decades in prison.