Federal prosecutors in New York said Avenatti, 48, met a lawyer for Nike in March 2019. During their meeting, he threatened to release damaging information about Nike unless it paid him between $15m and $25m.
Avenatti formerly represented Stormy Daniels, who tried to sue the president to get out of a non-disclosure agreement she had signed before the 2016 presidential election.
"He put a series of tripwires in front of the president's lawyer and Michael Cohen literally tripped over every one of them," Turley said.
Avenatti won't say how he wound up representing Daniels, but said she wasn't referred to him by anyone with a political ax to grind.
Celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti walks out of a New York court house after a hearing in a case where he is accused of stealing $300,000 from a former client, adult-film actress Stormy Daniels on July 23, 2019 in New York City. “You guys know enough now to know you’ve got a serious problem,” he said.
Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, whose office prosecuted Avenatti, said in a prepared statement, “While the defendant may have tried to hide behind legal terms and a suit and tie, the jury clearly saw the defendant’s scheme for what it was — an old fashioned shakedown.”.
Daniels was paid $130,000 by Trump’s then-personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to keep her quiet about her claims of having had sex with Trump years earlier. Trump has denied Daniels’ allegations but reimbursed Cohen for the hush money.