Michael Avenatti Arrested on Federal Charges in New York & L.A. | THR News - video Dailymotion

Stormy Daniels' former lawyer is facing extortion charges in New York — and bank fraud charges in California.

Transcript

00:00Attorney Michael Avenatti, who is perhaps best known for representing Stormy Daniels in

00:04her lawsuit against President Donald Trump, has been arrested in Manhattan on federal

00:08extortion charges. The legal woes for the controversial lawyer spam both coasts as he's

00:12being charged with four counts of extortion in New York and facing federal wire fraud

00:16and bank fraud charges in California. Prior to being taken into custody, Avenatti tweeted,

00:21According to the criminal complaint filed Monday, Avenatti told Nike that he would only

00:39refrain from holding the press conference if the sports giant paid his client $1.5 million

00:44and agreed to retain him to conduct an internal investigation for $15-20 million.

00:48The complaint also alleges that he repeatedly warned the company that he wasn't around.

00:53Nike contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office, who investigated in conjunction with the FBI.

00:58In New York, Avenatti is being charged with conspiracy to transmit interstate communications

01:03with the intent to extort, conspiracy to commit extortion, transmission of interstate

01:07communication with intent to extort and extortion. In Los Angeles, prosecutors allege

01:12the lawyer embezzled clients' money to pay his own expenses and debts as well as using them

01:17for his law firm and coffee venture. He is facing up to 50 years in prison for bank and wire fraud.

01:22This is not the first time the one-time 2020 presidential hopeful has made headlines for being

01:26on the wrong side of the law. The attorney was arrested on November 14, 2018, by Los Angeles

01:31police and booked on a felony count of domestic violence after a report was filed against him

01:35the day before. However, in February, the office of the Los Angeles City Attorney declined to file

01:40charges for the alleged assault. Avenatti has vehemently denied the accusations and alluded to being set up by

01:46Jacob Wall, the hardcore Trump supporter who made headlines after his scheme to frame

01:50Robert Mueller, imploded. The lawyer has also been involved in the ongoing sexual assault

01:54allegations against R&B singer R. Kelly, claiming that he is in possession of a VHS tape

01:58that allegedly shows Kelly having sex with an underage girl. Avenatti explained via a statement

02:03on Twitter that he had been retained by

02:05multiple clients in connection with allegations of sexual assault on minors by Kelly and had taken on

02:10their cases pro bono. Meanwhile, Daniels spoke about her former lawyer's predicament via a

02:14statement on Twitter in which he confessed that though she was saddened by the news of his arrest,

02:18she was not surprised by it. Said Daniels,

02:21To read more on this ongoing story and to read the full criminal complaint, head to THR.com.

02:33For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.