Prominent attorney Michael Avenatti faces federal charges for allegedly attempting to extort more than $20 million dollars from Nike.
According to a complaint filed to U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart Aaron on Sunday as a sealed document, Avenatti utilized an array of bullying phone calls, a hostile in-person meeting and terrorizing social media posts to threaten Nike with severe damage to the company’s brand. Between a hastily arranged meeting in New York City last Tuesday and a now-infamous tweet on Monday, Avenatti is accused of demanding that Nike pay Avenatti, an unnamed co-conspirator and an unnamed client—who is described as a California-based AAU coach—as much as $26.