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- Michael Avenatti has been charged with attempting to extort more than $20 million from Nike.
- According to a charging document from the Southern District of New York, Avenatti attempted to extract the money by "threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial & reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met."
New York federal prosecutors have charged the celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti with attempting to extort more than $20 million from Nike.
Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York said in a charging document that Avenatti tried to get the money by "threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial & reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met."
Avenatti rose to fame over the last year for representing the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who sued President Donald Trump to get out of a nondisclosure agreement she signed regarding an affair she claims she had with him in the 2000s. Daniels' lawsuit was central to a separate Manhattan US attorney's office investigation into Trump's and his former lawyer Michael Cohen's business dealings before the 2016 US election.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.