Free Republic

April 11 (Reuters) - The convicted celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti has been granted temporary freedom from a New York City jail by a California federal judge who said the spread of the novel coronavirus was a compelling reason to release him. In an order late on Friday, U.S. District Judge James Selna said Avenatti, who represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against U.S. President Donald Trump, may stay at a friend's home during the 90-day release period. Avenatti, 49, must first be quarantined for 14 days at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, to ensure he does not...

A federal judge in Los Angeles has rejected a plea from prominent convicted lawyer Michael Avenatti to be released from jail because of the risk he could contract the coronavirus. U.S. District Court Judge James Selna turned aside Avenatti’s claims that a bout he had with pneumonia last September puts him in grave danger if COVID-19 begins to rampage through federal prisons like the Manhattan detention center where he’s currently locked up. Avenatti, who was convicted by a New York federal court jury last month on charges of trying to extort shoemaking giant Nike and is facing other federal charges...

Fraudster Michael Avenatti’s attorney is scared to visit him at the dirty and dangerous Metropolitan Correctional Center — because he fears the lockup could be a coronavirus hotbed. . . . “Mr. Avenatti’s cell was infested with rats. The jail reeks or urine. As of yesterday, Mr. Avenatti had not shaved in weeks. Meanwhile, across the country, public officials are declaring states of emergency as a result of the spread of the coronavirus,” Srebnick wrote.

NEW YORK - Michael Avenatti was stuck in a "rat-infested" jail cell for a 10-day stretch during a recent lockdown at a federal detention center and was able to shower only twice in about two weeks, his attorney said in a letter to a judge Wednesday. The details of Avenatti's recent experience at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan were discussed in a letter sent by his attorney Scott Srebnick to U.S. District Court Judge Paul Gardephe seeking a postponement to a probation background interview Avenatti is supposed to complete. The lockdown in recent weeks was due to a...

Federal detention centers are definitely a lot less pleasant than cable news' greenrooms. Former liberal media darling and frequent CNN guest Michael Avenatti was recently held in a "rat-infested" jail cell for a 10-day stretch and “and was able to shower only twice in about two weeks,” according to The Washington Post. Citing a letter Avenatti’s attorney sent to a judge, the Post reported that the former lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels had a rough time during a lockdown at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan, where he's being held since last month after being found guilty of...

For its 2019 dinner, the White House Correspondents' Association skipped the traditional comedian and invited a historian instead. Ron Chernow buttered up every journalist in the room by proclaiming: "You folks in the media write the early drafts of history, and we historians the later ones. Your work gives freshener and color and immediacy to our sagas. ... you do noble work to preserve democracy." Everyone in the room understood the code words here. "Preserving democracy" is equated with opposing President Donald Trump. "Democracy" means removing Trump from office. His election could cause democracy to "die in darkness." So the...

RUSH: How about Avenatti? How about Michael Avenatti? This guy was on CNN more than anybody two years ago. This guy was at every CNN party. He was on every CNN show multiple times. He was feted, he was hosted by CNN, he was promoted, he was trumpeted. There were people — and I’m not making this up ’cause I commented on it at the time — there were people who were actually touting Michael Avenatti as the Democrat nominee for 2020 as the only guy who could beat Trump. And there were even Republicans, serious Never Trump Republicans who...

Some members of the mainstream media have issued mea culpas for building up now-disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti, while others have shirked responsibility and some have even blamed President Trump – but it all falls flat for critics who watched his rise from lawyer for a porn star to potential Democratic presidential candidate. Avenatti, who represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against President Trump, appeared on CNN and MSNBC a combined 229 times over two years, according to the Media Research Center. CNN’s Brian Stelter was Avenatti’s biggest cheerleader, once declaring that he was a “serious” contender to...

There's nothing better than watching the media glom onto the latest anti-Trump fantasy only to watch it go up in flames as did their love affair with now-convicted "Creepy Porn lawyer" Michael Avenatti. Back before Avenatti was known to be a raging criminal who tried to blackmail Nike into giving him millions of dollars, the media thought that he was the "savior of the Republic." Yes, they said that. ~snip~ Video

So far, only one prominent MSM television pundit has passed the test of basic integrity that the guilty verdict against Michael Avenatti poses for his former fanboys and fangirls on CNN, MSNBC, and the alphabet networks. Jeffrey Toobin, CNN’s legal analyst, admitted to Anderson Cooper, who uttered not a peep of his own personal regret. The entire five and a half minute interview and transcript are embedded below, but go to 3 minutes and 46 seconds to see Toobin admit, “And frankly, you know, I feel kind of snookered, because I took him seriously,’ followed shortly thereafter by Cooper seeming...

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer who gained fame by representing a porn star in lawsuits against President Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of trying to extort sportswear giant Nike. The verdict was returned Friday by a Manhattan federal jury after it deliberated charges of attempted extortion and honest services fraud in what prosecutors say was an attempt by Avenatti to extort up to $25 million from Nike with threats to otherwise harm it. The charges carry a combined potential penalty of 42 years in prison.

Manhattan federal court judge Deborah Batts who was slated to oversee Michael Avenatti’s Stormy Daniels-related embezzlement trial, has died. She was 72. The Philadelphia-born jurist, who was the first openly gay member of the federal judiciary, passed away February 2, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Full title of article: "Michael Avenatti’s Lonely Fall The disgraced lawyer wanted to be a legal celebrity. Now he’s not even the most famous defendant on the block." Excerpt: Over the last year or so, the swift and not particularly surprising fall of lawyer Michael Avenatti has descended through the circles of bankruptcy, alleged domestic violence, banishment from cable television, and separate indictments for tax fraud, extortion, and cheating Stormy Daniels, his most important client. In mid-January, federal agents arrested Avenatti in the middle of a disciplinary hearing before the State Bar of California and charged him with violating his...

LOS ANGELES – Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti is accused of stealing money from dozens more clients than previously known, according to newly unsealed documents and recent interviews with Fox News. It’s alleged that Avenatti, currently behind bars awaiting trial in New York on unrelated charges, directed up to $1.3 million in settlement funds – intended for approximately 170 clients – to cover his own expenses. It’s the latest example of alleged malfeasance by the lawyer who was once a fixture on cable news and flirted with a presidential run. “We didn’t receive any of that,” Donald Albaugh, one of Avenatti’s...

LOS ANGELES—Ex-Stormy Daniels lawyer and Trump antagonist Michael Avenatti was led out of the State Bar Court in Los Angeles by federal agents on Tuesday evening. The arrest occurred outside the disciplinary hearing in which the State Bar of California has accused the hard-charging, tough-talking attorney of using a doctored document to scam a client out of nearly $840,000, funneling money from a lawsuit settlement fund to his own personal use.

Michael Avenatti does not want U.S. prosecutors to present evidence at his criminal trial this month that his alleged financial straits, including an inability to pay child support, gave the celebrity lawyer a motive to extort Nike Inc. In a filing on Friday, lawyers for Avenatti said it would be "so prejudicial to Mr. Avenatti as to deprive him of a fair trial" for prosecutors to suggest he was more than $15 million in debt, a claim Avenatti "vehemently disputes," when he allegedly tried to extort up to $25 million from Nike. Avenatti became famous representing porn star Stormy Daniels...

A federal grand jury on Wednesday charged Michael Avenatti with extortion and wire fraud in the case where he was charged with attempting to extort millions of dollars from Nike. According to the complaint, Avenatti threatened to hold a press conference to announce misconduct by Nike unless the athletic apparel company hired Avenatti and his co-conspirator to conduct an internal investigation for over $20 million. Avenatti faces three charges.

Michael Avenatti, who in the past represented porn star Stormy Daniels against the likes of President Donald Trump and his then fixer Michael Cohen, told CNBC late on Friday that he is yet again contemplating entering the expansive 2020 field of candidates. He later noted that the odds of him getting into the race are at 50/50 and he could make his decision in a few months. As he’s watched the almost two dozen candidates square off in the primary debates, Avenatti says he continues to believe Democrats don’t have the fighter that can take on Trump come the general...

After Plagiarism Scandal, Biden Rips Off Avenatti’s Campaign Slogan. Avenatti Responds. Fresh off his latest plagiarism scandal, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ripped off indicted lawyer Michael Avenatti's proposed campaign slogan on Tuesday, which spurred reaction online, including from Avenatti. During a campaign stop in Iowa, Biden said: "I think it's time, you know, [Trump] says, 'let's Make America Great Again,' let's make America America again." People immediately noticed that Biden's remarks were an exact match for the campaign slogan that Avenatti had proposed using for his campaign before he encountered legal problems and decided not to run for office....

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on court appearances by embattled attorney Michael Avenatti (all times local): 4:20 p.m. Attorney Michael Avenatti has emerged from a New York courthouse to say he's facing the fight of his life "against the ultimate goliath, the Trump administration." **SNIP** Earlier in the day, he pleaded not guilty through his lawyer in a case accusing him of cheating porn star Stormy Daniels out of about $300,000 from a book deal. Then, he announced four separate times that he was "100% not guilty" when a judge asked him to answer each charge in a case...