Prosecutors: Michael Avenatti Tried to Extort Nike Because He Was a Broke-Ass

Trifling grifter.

According to a legal filing submitted to the Manhattan Federal Court Tuesday, Avenatti was at least $15 million in debt when he allegedly attempted to wring over $20 million from Nike, the trial over which is set to begin next month.

"The Government does not intend to argue that the defendant was wealthy (and the evidence shows that he was not)," reads the filing, as reported by the New York Daily News.

"The Government expects that the evidence at trial will show that, at the time of his charged conduct, the defendant was in significant debt," Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolksy explained in the filing. "Specifically, the Government presently estimates that the defendant’s debts at that time were, conservatively, in excess of $15 million."

Through his period of being a broke-ass deadbeat while siphoning money out of his clients' accounts, this article notes, Michael Avenatti was a very wealthy man by at least one measure: free TV advertising on CNN and MSNBC.

At the height of his "Trump slayer" hype in 2018, Avenatti appeared on MSNBC and CNN 108 times over a 64-day period (March 7 though May 10), according to a study by the Washington Free Beacon, which the outlet calculated amounted to nearly $175 million in earned media time.

posted by Ace at 07:40 PM

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