Posted on 03/25/2019 2:28:27 PM PDT by COUNTrecount
5 of the Most Explosive Details From the Michael Avenatti-Nike Extortion Case By Sheena Butler-Young
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan today brought charges against famed attorney Michael Avenatti for allegedly attempting to extort upwards of $20 million from Nike Inc.
In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors said Avenatti threatened to release damning allegations against the firm if it did not agree to pay him and a co-conspirator more than $22 million. The complaint contends that Avenatti also demanded that Nike pay a client he purported to represent — described as an Amateur Athletic Union men’s basketball coach claiming to have damaging information against the brand — $1.5 million to secure his/her silence.
“As alleged, Michael Avenatti approached Nike last week with a list of financial demands in exchange for covering up allegations of misconduct on behalf of the company,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said today. “In the event anyone needs to be reminded, this type of behavior is illegal, and it will not be tolerated — especially when committed by a lawyer who is supposed to use his license to practice law, not to willfully violate it.”
Here, five explosive allegations in the complaint.
Avenatti Threatened to Release Information in Tandem With Key Events
According to the complaint, Avenatti and a co-conspirator, who is also an attorney but was not named as a defendant, threatened to hold a press conference on the eve of Nike’s March 21 third-quarter conference call and the start of the annual National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. During a March 19 meeting he scheduled with attorneys for Nike, Avenatti allegedly said he would use the press conference to announce allegations of misconduct by employees of Nike — and anticipated that releasing negative information about Nike at such a pivotal time would hurt its market value. “Avenatti stated … he approached Nike now … maximizing the potential financial and reputational damage his press conference could cause to Nike,” the complaint read. During a March 20 recorded phone call, Avenatti allegedly escalated those threats by telling attorneys for Nike that “I’ll go take 10 billion dollars off your client market cap … I’m not f**king around,” according to court documents. (After the March 19 meeting, Nike’s attorneys contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which launched an investigation in conjunction with the FBI, resulting in subsequent calls and meetings between the attorneys being recorded.)
An AAU Coach Was Disgruntled Over Nike’s Decision to End a Contract
During his first meeting with two attorneys for Nike, on March 19, Avenatti allegedly stated that Nike previously had a contractual relationship with the AAU team coached by his client. Nike had recently decided not to renew the contract, valued at $72,000 annually. Avenatti’s client purported to have evidence that one or more Nike employees had authorized payments to the families of top high school basketball players and/or their families. (Former Adidas executive James “Jim” Gatto was sentenced to prison time this month for his role in the NCAA pay-for-play scandal that turned college basketball on its head in 2017.) Avenatti allegedly named three high school players in particular but indicated the AAU coach had more names of those who had allegedly received payments from Nike.
Avenatti Wanted Nike to Retain Him for an “Internal Investigation”
Among his major demands to keep the potentially harmful information against Nike under wraps, prosecutors allege Avenatti requested that Nike hire him and his purported co-conspirator “to conduct an internal investigation of Nike, with a provision that if Nike hired another firm to conduct such an internal investigation, Nike would still be required to pay Avenatti and [his purported co-conspirator] at least twice the fees of any other firm hired,” the documents stated. Avenatti also, per court papers, told Nike’s attorneys on March 20 that his demand was not simply to be retained by Nike but to “be paid at least $10 million or more by Nike in return for not holding a press conference.”
“I’m not f**king around with this, and I’m not continuing to play games … You guys know you have a serious problem. And it’s worth more in exposure to me to just blow the lid on this thing,” he allegedly told Nike attorneys.
Among the purported perks of having Avenatti and his team conduct the internal investigation for Nike were that such a process, according to Avenatti, could “benefit Nike by, among other things, allowing Nike to ‘self-report’ any misconduct, and that it would be Nike’s choice whether to do so,” the court documents stated.
More Than $20 Million Was Requested in Desired Payouts
Court documents stated Avenatti demanded during a March 21 meeting with Nike attorneys a $1.5 million payment for his client, the AAU coach. Avenatti allegedly requested an additional $12 million retainer to be paid immediately to himself and his co-conspirator and “deemed earned when paid,” with a minimum guarantee of $15 million in billings and a maximum fee of $25 million.
When a Nike attorney purportedly asked whether Nike could resolve the demands just by paying the AAU coach rather than retaining Avenatti and his co-conspirator, Avenatti allegedly stated: “If [Nike] wants to have one confidential settlement and we’re done, they can buy that for 22 and half million dollars and we’re done … Full confidentiality, we ride off into the sunset.”
Authorities Flagged an Incriminating Tweet
Shortly after that March 21 meeting, Avenatti allegedly made good on some of his purported threats by posting a message to Twitter, writing in reference to an article about a prior prosecution involving employees of Adidas: “Something tells me that we have not reached the end of this scandal. It is likely far far broader than imagined.”
Ha ha ha plop.
That’s me laughing my ass off.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer, more deserving fellow.
Avenatti is going to be the punch-line to scum-sucking, bottom-feeding lawyer jokes for the next decade
Avennatti, a typical Democrat.
NIKE????????????next time pick a company that can’t afford good lawyers.....PATHETIC!!!
Not my blessing. They have escaped judgment in this life, but not in the next. I pity them.
But...but...isn't that what Stormy and the McDougal woman were doing?
They need to find the Julie Swetnick payoff money. Anyone that grew up in DC knew she was lying the geography made it impossible.She was a train wreck and he exploited it.
This is not going to work out well for Avenatti’s client, either.
Avenatti worked at The Research Group, a political opposition research and media firm run by Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff for Barack Obama and current Mayor of Chicago.
Avennatti, a typical rat elitist lawyer!!!
Maybe Avenatti can cut a deal...
Remember this?...Kavanaugh “rape victim” was represented by Avenatti
Avenatti Disaster: Gang Rape Accuser’s Boyfriend Just Blew Her Credibility Apart
The ex-boyfriend of Julie Swetnick, the woman who made the bizarre allegations this week that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh participated in gang rapes, says Swetnick is not credible and claims he has evidence to prove it.
The ex-boyfriend is 63-year-old Richard Vinneccy, a registered Democrat.
Vinneccy told Politico that he dated Swetnick for four years, but in 2001, Vinneccy ordered a petition for injunction against her because she was clearly unstable.
“Right after I broke up with her, she was threatening my family, threatening my wife and threatening to do harm to my baby at that time,” Vinneccy told Politico.
“She’s not credible at all,” he said. “Not at all.”
TRENDING: James Woods Celebrates Trump’s ‘Slam Dunk Victory’ with Video Roasting ‘the Liberal Press’
Vinneccy also said he can prove she lied about her accusation.
“I have a lot of facts, evidence, that what she’s saying is not true at all,” he said.
Swetnick’s bizarre accusations were published on Twitter by her attorney, Michael Avenatti. The accusations include Kavanaugh spiking drinks at parties and engaging in gang-rape activities.
Her accusations go back as early as 1980, which would have made Kavanaugh 15 at the time.
Below is my correspondence to Mr. Davis of moments ago, together with a sworn declaration from my client. We demand an immediate FBI investigation into the allegations. Under no circumstances should Brett Kavanaugh be confirmed absent a full and complete investigation. pic.twitter.com/QHbHBbbfbE
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) September 26, 2018
Avenatti was not happy to hear about his client’s ex-boyfriend.
“I am disgusted by the fact that the press is attacking a sexual assault victim,” he said.
For some reason, Avenatti claimed to not know about the restraining order filed by Vinneccy despite previously claiming he had vetted her.
“I don’t know one way or another,” he said when asked if he knew about the restraining order.
A more cynical person might think Avenatti knew about the restraining order but hoped that Vinneccy would never come forward.
RELATED: In Unreal Segment, CNN Panelist Attacks Trump with Sen. McSally’s Alleged Rape
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Now the cat is out of the bag and Avenatti’s first instinct is to use the weak defense of claiming Vinneccy is “victim blaming.”
However, it’s not “victim blaming” if Vinneccy really does have evidence to prove there was no “victim” to begin with.
We don’t know for sure if Vinneccy has the evidence he claims he does, but we’ll find out after he is able to speak with an attorney.
“I would rather speak to my attorney first before saying more,” Vinneccy said.
Vinneccy’s claims doesn’t bode well for Swetnick’s “gang rape” allegations.
He did to himeself what he and his pals at CNN tried their damndest to do to Trump.
In fact, he was f***ing around...with the wrong people.
I know a former lawyer at a big-time firm known all across the globe. Yeah - go up against a firm that has hundreds of in-house lawyers - not real smart.
Not that they won all of their cases, but for something like extortion?
I recall one case he was on - maybe a year or more, with the last few months out of town.
“So how did it go?”
“We settled out of court. We came to a compromise and we are happy, and they are happy, so I guess it’s good. But, it just feels like such a... well, a compromise!”
“list of financial demands in exchange for covering up allegations of misconduct”
Isn’t that what Congress does, pay people off so they keep quiet?
Who was going to cover this “shakedown” press conference? CNN?
He’s no Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson...
I am seeing items saying that Mark Geragos is in this also. That would be an awesome twofer!
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