A jury in a New York Federal court has found Michael Avenatti guilty on all three counts associated with the Nike Extortion trial. This means that the person often referred to by Fox New’s Tucker Carlson as “creepy porn lawyer” who thought he would be running for president against Donald Trump a little over a year ago is in a whole different place.
Michael Avenatti guilty on all counts in Nike extortion trial. He stared straight ahead and showed no reaction as verdict was read.
— Stephen Brown (@PPVSRB) February 14, 2020
Prosecutors asserted that Avenatti threatened to publicly accuse Nike of making dirty deals with sports players unless the shoe company paid the lawyer outrageous amounts of money. He also allegedly betrayed his client, who supposedly provided him with information, by using it to try to enrich himself instead of helping his client. Donald Trump Jr., who loves trolling Avenatti on Twitter, is having a field day today.
Avenatti’s charges included transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, attempted extortion and honest services wire fraud.
The president’s son joked on Twitter about the news saying he’s a “shoe in for the 2064 Democratic nomination”. See Trump Jr.’s tweets below:
He’s a shoe in for the 2064 Democratic nomination… #basta https://t.co/WNLO4ETney
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 14, 2020
*former Democratic presidential candidate https://t.co/CtH7Zbc3Lt
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 14, 2020
CNN reported in part:
He still faces two additional trials for allegedly stealing Stormy Daniels’ book advance and committing fraud in California. He is being held in jail for allegedly violating the terms of his bail in the California case. Gary Franklin, the youth basketball coach who Michael Avenatti represented, testified last week that he was bullied by Nike executives who forced him to make the illicit payments to top high school basketball players and their families.
In 2018, the company ended its sponsorship of Franklin’s program, the California Supreme. Franklin said he wanted Avenatti to get Nike to renew his team’s sponsorship and get two Nike executives fired. Avenatti was in “crushing debt” at the time and wanted to use Franklin’s case to make money, prosecutors said. The high-powered attorney saw Franklin as a “meal ticket,” they argued.
Avenatti, who got famous for the Stormy Daniels allegations against President Trump and was a hero by many on the left like The View, has been disavowed by Daniels and doesn’t seem to have many allies left. Time will tell what happens next with sentencing and other possible bad news for Avenatti in the future.
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