Nike case recordings against Michael Avenatti shows his ‘angry and out of control side,’ attorney says
Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti is fighting back on Twitter one day after his arrest in New York City on charges of trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike.
“We never attempted to extort Nike & when the evidence is disclosed, the public will learn the truth about Nike's crime & coverup,” he tweeted. “They are trying to divert attention from their own crimes," he wrote in another tweet.”
Attorney and Fox News contributor Emily Compagno told FOX Business’ Charles Payne that Avenatti is a person that doesn’t know when to simply stop.
“The final nail in the coffin in the charging document was his tweet and then look at him going on a tweet storm right now,” she said on Tuesday. “He really is digging himself his own hole.”
The tweet Compagno is referring to in the charging document is the one Avenatti put out Monday shortly before his arrest where he indicated that he would be holding a press conference to disclose a scandal involving high school and college basketball players by Nike.
“Nike’s attempt at diversion and cover-up will fail miserably once prosecutors realize they have been played by Nike and their lawyers…This reaches the highest levels of Nike,” Avenatti wrote in another tweet.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NKE | NIKE INC. | 75.68 | -0.84 | -1.10% |
Compagno said the separate federal case that was also filed Monday against Avenatti in Los Angeles an even more serious charge than the Nike case. The California case charges the celebrity lawyer with bank and wire fraud for embezzling a client’s money “in order to pay his own expense and debts.”
Avenatti faces almost 100 years in prison if convicted in both cases, and according to Compagno, there is some very damaging evidence against him.
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“The audio and video recordings in the Nike case, they are extremely detailed and quite prolific and it shows a frankly a very angry and out of control side of Avenatti that likely is not surprising to us,” she said.
Avenatti was released Monday evening on $300,000 bond. He proclaimed his innocence and said he was confident he would be “fully exonerated” after speaking briefly to reporters upon his release. He is best known for representing adult film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against President Trump.