By BRIAN MELLEY and LARRY NEUMEISTER
LOS ANGELES — U.S. prosecutors on two coasts have charged President Donald Trump critic and attorney Michael Avenatti with extortion and bank and wire fraud.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles said Avenatti was arrested Monday in New York.
Spokesman Ciaran McEvoy says the lawyer best known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against Trump faces federal charges in New York and California.
In the New York case, he was accused of threatening to use his ability to get publicity to harm the sports apparel giant Nike.
In the California case, Avenatti was accused of embezzling a clients money to pay his own expenses and debts — as well as those of his coffee business and law firm. The U.S. attorneys office also said he defrauded a bank by using phony tax returns to obtain millions of dollars in loans.
Prosecutors in both states planned to release more details at news conferences later Monday.
In the New York case, Avenatti was charged with conspiracy to transmit interstate communications with intent to extort, conspiracy to commit extortion, transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort and extortion. The charges carry a potential penalty of 47 years in prison.
A criminal complaint said Avenatti threatened to hold a news conference on the eve of Nikes quarterly earnings call and the start of the NCAA tournament to announce allegations of misconduct by Nike employees.
Avenatti and a co-conspirator demanded to be paid a minimum of $15 to $25 million and an additional $1.5 million for an Avenatti client to remain silent, the complaint said.
The court papers said the co-conspiracy, who was notRead More – Source
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