Today is not a good day to be Michael Avenatti.
Good news for my friend @MichaelAvenatti, if you plead fast enough, you might just get to share a cell with Michael Cohen! #basta
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 25, 2019
I’m getting a sneaking suspicion that @MichaelAvenatti ‘s 15 minutes are rapidly approaching the end. pic.twitter.com/vVoPMISos7
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) March 25, 2019
It was early in the day that the “creepy porn lawyer” tweeted out that he would be holding a major press conference to disclose a scandal perpetrated by Nike. “This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.”
Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered. This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 25, 2019
While Avenatti was giving the impression that he was about to blow the lid off of damning behavior taking place at Nike – law enforcement saw things differently.
Press conference today at 2:30 @SDNYNews to announce charges against Michael Avenatti for attempting to extract more than $20M in payments from Nike by threatening to garner publicity to inflict financial & reputational harm if his demands were not met https://t.co/atshBN5Nvl
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) March 25, 2019
According to Fox News, after Avenatti was taken into custody:
Prosecutors said Avenatti tried to extort Nike “by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met.”
“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 Sweeney Jr. said in a statement. “The lofty price tag included a $1.5 million payoff for Avenatti’s client and upwards of tens of millions of dollars for the legal services of his firm – services Nike never requested. This is nothing more than a straightforward case of extortion”
The counts against Avenatti in the New York case are extortion, transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort, conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, and conspiracy to commit extortion. He faces up to 47 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
While a rising celebrity on the left, Avenatti ruled out running for president in December, which is one of the few good decisions he’s made in hindsight.
The twittersphere couldn’t help but mock Avenatti’s original tweet, which is probably one of the biggest “self owns” in history.
Awwww, it seems like that press conference was just cancelled😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/jqsVY406YG
— 𝓝𝒾𝒸𝑜𝓁𝑒 ⭐️🌟⭐️ (@MsNicole124) March 25, 2019
Trump Curse is real holy s**t
I’m a believer now pic.twitter.com/TzWi7nOOrc
— Lamar War Room of ChristianforArizona.com (@LamarWarRoom) March 25, 2019
— myowncliche (@1anonlycliche) March 25, 2019
And just to leave you with some irony, here’s a favorite tweet of mine from Avenatti:
Just to be clear – our prisons are full of people that were convicted of engaging in a “simple, private transaction.”
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) December 10, 2018
I guess the prisons are about to be filled with one more.
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