Michael Avenatti Arrested In Extortion Plot Against Nike, Conspired With Smollett's Lawyer

[Swordsmyth]

Update 4: The SDNY has laid out its allegations of extortion against Avenatti - namely, that he tried to extort Nike - during an afternoon press conference.
After claiming to be working on behalf of an amateur basketball team in the AAU that had recently lost a Nike contract worth some $70,000 a year, Avenatti used "illegal and extortionate threats" to try and secure millions of dollars for himself from Nike. The coach from the team told Avenatti that payments had been made by Nike to high school basketball players. Avenatti threatened to make these allegations public if the company didn't meet his demands - paying his client $1.5 million, while awarding Avenatti and a co-conspirator a multi-million dollar contract to conduct an internal investigation.
Avenatti chose the timing of his plot very carefully, approaching Nike shortly before the company was set to report its Q1 earnings, and not to mention March Madness. At one point, he threatened to take $10 billion of Nike market cap.
Lawyers for Nike contacted federal prosecutors and reported the extortion attempt after they were initially contacted by Avenatti. Prosecutors suggested recording the next call with Avenatti - a recording which produced some choice quotations from the infamous "Creepy porn lawyer."

"I'm not f---ing around with this, and I'm not continuing to play games," Avenatti was recorded as saying. "You guys know enough now to know you've got a serious problem. And it's worth more in exposure to me to just blow the lid on this thing. A few million dollars doesn't move the needle for me. I'm just being really frank with you."
"I'll go and I'll go take $10 billion off your client's market cap. But I'm not f---ing around," he said.

When the company's lawyers balked, he said it could skip the investigation if it simply paid him $22 million.
The whole incident - which SDNY described as an "old fashioned shake down" - unfolded over a period of three days, beginning earlier this month. Avenatti was arrested in Manhattan earlier on Monday and brought to the FBI offices.
As one reporter pointed out, the funniest part of the NY Avenatti indictment is the seemingly obvious (for everyone but Avenatti) setup engineered by Nike's lawyers.

This is the funniest part of Avenatti’s indictment:

1. Allegedly makes illegal threat
2. Nike Lawyers call DoJ to tattle
3. DoJ says call Avenatti back and ask him to repeat himself
4. HE $#@!IN DOES

H/t @lachlan pic.twitter.com/JlSrayrA1x
— Geoffrey Ingersoll (@GPIngersoll) March 25, 2019

Watch the full video below:

Officials address arrest of Avenatti related to Nike extortion case https://t.co/ssOGC6vT6U
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 25, 2019

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...etball-scandal

[Stratovarious]

I didn't know that threatening to tattle tale on someone was extortion, I guess I could look it up


I just remember like; ''I'm killing your kids and flushing your goldfish if you don't
Give me lots of cash ''

''.... your arm will be broken
in a trash compactor if you don't send us 10 million quid....''

etc.......

No I'm not British , I just like that word (quid), and the English are good at
extortion, especially since their world is now a 3rd world shthole, what's to lose.....

[enhanced_deficit]

Karma?

His agressive TV media campaign with help of fakenews media had caused lot of embarassment for POTUS and his personal lawyer of decades Michael Cohen and played a role in media witchunt including the infamous trick question about Michael Cohen on Air Force one.

Michael Avenatti Says Michael Cohen Helped Donald Trump 'Rig the Election' and He 'Deserves the Max Penalty'
9/15/18

[Swordsmyth]

I didn't know that threatening to tattle tale on someone was extortion, I guess I could look it up


I just remember like; ''I'm killing your kids and flushing your goldfish if you don't
Give me lots of cash ''

''.... your arm will be broken
in a trash compactor if you don't send us 10 million quid....''

etc.......

No I'm not British , I just like that word (quid), and the English are good at
extortion, especially since their world is now a 3rd world shthole, what's to lose.....

He demanded money to not do it.

[oyarde]

I didn't know that threatening to tattle tale on someone was extortion, I guess I could look it up


I just remember like; ''I'm killing your kids and flushing your goldfish if you don't
Give me lots of cash ''

''.... your arm will be broken
in a trash compactor if you don't send us 10 million quid....''

etc.......

No I'm not British , I just like that word (quid), and the English are good at
extortion, especially since their world is now a 3rd world shthole, what's to lose.....

I make the english pay in increments of Bob .

[Stratovarious]

He demanded money to not do it.

Yea, I got that right off, but I grew up under the impression extortion was a threat
of bodily injury , arson, murder , kidnapping etc, in order to extract/extort cash
from someone ....I was apparently wrong.

[Stratovarious]

I make the english pay in increments of Bob .

They pay me in blankets/

[Swordsmyth]

Yea, I got that right off, but I grew up under the impression extortion was a threat
of bodily injury , arson, murder , kidnapping etc, in order to extract/extort cash
from someone ....I was apparently wrong.

In this case it was a threat of financial harm.

[oyarde]

They pay me in blankets/

The old Hudson Bay blankets are nice .

[Stratovarious]

The old Hudson Bay blankets are nice .

Collectors Items.

I gave all my blankets away though, I just throw my saddle over the hot coals after
super, and catch some shut eye, Horse keeps guard.

[Swordsmyth]

Never one to let grand jury indictments, getting fired by Stormy Daniels, an ongoing bankruptcy battle, #MeToo claims that he beat his girlfriend, and getting caught allegedly trying to bilk Nike for $25 million, Avenatti tweeted on Thursday that he will plead "NOT GUILTY" - describing the whole thing as a "one-sided version meant to sideline me."

I intend to fully fight all charges and plead NOT GUILTY. I look forward to the entire truth being known as opposed to a one-sided version meant to sideline me.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 11, 2019

One day after it was reported that Michael Avenatti was the subject of a federal warrant that resulted in the seizure of his $4.5 million private jet, CNN's favorite guest was indicted by a federal grand jury in California on 36 counts.

US Attorney Nick Hanna and the IRS are holding a press conference at 9am PST to discuss the charges.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...nts-grand-jury