Prosecutors seek 'very substantial' prison time for Avenatti
Source: The Associated Press
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
today
NEW YORK (AP) Prosecutors urged a judge Wednesday to impose a very substantial prison sentence on Michael Avenatti for trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike.
Prosecutors noted in a Manhattan federal court submission that Probation Office officials recommend an eight-year prison term for the California attorney who gained fame three years ago through his representation of porn star Stormy Daniels against then-President Donald Trump.
The defendant, a prominent attorney and media personality with a large public following, betrayed his client and sought to enrich himself by weaponizing his public profile in an attempt to extort a publicly-traded company out of tens of millions of dollars. This was an egregious abuse of trust, and it warrants real and serious punishment, prosecutors wrote.
The government said Avenatti, representing the director of a youth basketball program in Los Angeles, tried to force the apparel maker to pay him up to $25 million to keep him quiet about allegations of corruption involving Nike and college athletics.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-business-34deb7d885dd1e495b8a06dafc627f14
hlthe2b
(101,714 posts)It is a very curious downfall, that is for sure.
moreland01
(735 posts)But I've tried to put myself in the shoes of a republican who hates trump but won't vote for a Dem. If someone like Avenatti somehow made it thru to being our Democratic nominee for President, would I vote for him just because he's a Dem, or would I choose the perhaps less offensive or criminal Republican. To be clear, I've never in my life voted for a Republican.
That's the pickle some republicans were in. Vote for their lyin, cheatin, a**hole, criminal candidate (trump), or vote for a Dem.
If it's trump vs. Avenatti, there's no contest. I'd vote for Avenatti.
But if it were, say Avenatti vs. Jeb Bush (or other generic republican with no #MeToo or lying issues) who would I vote for?
Is my criminal candidate better than a generic republican? I may just be tempted to stay home.
But 75 Million people made the choice to vote for trump and I'll just never understand it.
PSPS
(13,512 posts)trump, avenatti and the others who consider the office of president as an entry-level job are bad news regardless of their professed party.
msfiddlestix
(7,265 posts)absolutely, no question.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)I think you just went down the false-equivalency rabbit hole.
moreland01
(735 posts)wondered what I would do if the Dems had a "trump" running for office. We have our criminals/liars/awful people too. Someone who appeals to the worst in populist culture. Avenatti just made me think that we could be faced with that choice one day. No, I wasn't suggesting he is running for office. But what if an Avenatti came along and the populist Dems amongst us fell for him. How would I vote. How would YOU vote?
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)some DUers, dazzled by the newest shiny, charismatic persona to pop up on TV, agreeing excitedly that Avenatti should run for president! (As a Democrat, of course. )
Now, Brief Shiny Thing can put his charisma to work on his fellow prisoners.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)
seem to think that running for POTUS is some kind of door-prize for being flavor-of-the-month, or like being king or queen of the high school prom. And like Dorothy on her way to meet the Wizard of Oz when questioned about his capacity to deliver their dreams, they naively exclaim: He can! He must!
Somewhere early on in the Avenatti craze I shared the lengthy Los Angeles Times article on his dubious reputation, and periodically reference it as needed. I dont think Ive actually changed anyones mind.
samnsara
(17,570 posts)Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/cohen-investigation-began-2017-search-warrant-shows-n984776
Michael Cohen search warrants show federal probe began nearly a year earlier than known
"The documents show that the first FBI warrant was executed on July 19, 2017, seeking Cohen's Gmail messages from all of 2016 to the present.
...
The newly released documents show that the first FBI warrant was executed on July 19, 2017, targeting Cohen's Gmail account and seeking messages from all of 2016 up to July 2017. Special counsel Robert Mueller's team turned over documents to federal prosecutors in New York on Feb. 8, 2018.
Some 20 days later, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York received search warrants for the same account granting them the right to access Cohen's emails from Nov. 13, 2017, to the end of February 2018."
njhoneybadger
(3,910 posts)Hekate
(90,189 posts)
help out Stormy. There he was on the tv-machine all the time, slamming Trump and making a certain segment of DU think he should run for POTUS.
What the Times revealed was a man with a very checkered past, a slick fast-talker who played fast and loose with the law. There were a lot of unhappy people who had trusted him, relied on him, worked with him and they were unhappy for good reasons.
Ultimately he took Stormys money and left her with nothing. She deserved better.
Avenatti deserves what he is getting.
bearsfootball516
(6,369 posts)Tomconroy
(7,611 posts)Just ask Stormy Daniels what she thinks of him now.
oasis
(49,150 posts)bucolic_frolic
(42,663 posts)He was telling us what we wanted to hear, but I think he would have turned out to be another Trump
Mr. Ected
(9,670 posts)The defendant, a prominent attorney and media personality with a large public following, betrayed his client and sought to enrich himself by weaponizing his public profile in an attempt to extort a publicly-traded company out of tens of millions of dollars. This was an egregious abuse of trust, and it warrants real and serious punishment, prosecutors wrote. RE AVENATTI
The defendant, a prominent politician and media personality with a large public following, betrayed his country and sought to enrich himself by weaponizing his public profile in an attempt to extort every single source available to him out of tens of billions of dollars. This was an egregious abuse of trust, and it warrants real and serious punishment, prosecutors wrote. RE TRUMP
Escurumbele
(3,340 posts)The criminal mind works in mysterious ways...
sdfernando
(4,896 posts)well come to think of it he is a lot like Saul.
JohnnyRingo
(18,581 posts)I understand the severity of the penalty. And I despise Nike.
If he were just trying to get a free pair of endorsed kicks, it would have been about half as much and maybe probation.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)But back then anyone who hated trump was seen as a star. I never believed the guy hated trump. Just had a grift going.
That was a low time here. People were demoralized and looking for any hope.
I think I got my hand spanked on DU for posting something negative about him.
Bad times. Better now.
Whiskeytide
(4,459 posts)between Dems and RWNJs. When our favorite celebrity of the day was revealed to be a criminal scumbag, we kicked his ass to the curb. They voted for theirs.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,153 posts)When he gave media interviews it was such a breath of fresh air. He was speaking how many of us wished Democrats would. It took another couple of years for Democratic reps to catch up and sound as passionate and combative.
He did literally publicly shame himself.
I really admired and respected him loads at the time he came out as Daniels lawyer. Such a fall from grace. Or maybe a fall from potency. He was the Krypton to Trump and his supporters on Fox News. You never heard Trump take down Avenatti.... because it was so shocking how anyone could call him out like that. He didn't know how to combat that. Against Democrats he relied on the Democrats self policing to not look too negative or stray from their own carefully crafted tepid talking points.
I think he did us a service in opening the doors for showing how its okay...no one is going to blame you....if you call a Trump a Chump on air. I think especially for networks like CNN and MSNBC. It gave them courage to start to also view the Trump administration honestly, and started to abandon the false equivalency, bothsiderism MO they had been operating under for decades.