It's The Feds' Fault Michael Avenatti Thought Paying College Athletes Was A Scandal

Even before Michael Avenatti was arrested for allegedly trying to extort Nike out of millions of dollars , the accusations he promised to level against the apparel giant were as comical as his hopes of one day becoming the president of the United States.

Avenatti, the lawyer most famous for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in her hush money suit against President Donald Trump, tweeted Monday morning that he would soon expose a major scandal that reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.

Thanks to the federal complaint, which prosecutors from the Southern District of New York released following Avenattis arrest less than an hour after he tweeted, we know roughly what those allegations involved: threatening to release information that would damage the companys reputation if Nikes lawyers didnt pay Avenatti to stay quiet.

What was this damaging evidence? According to the complaint, Avenatti was going to show the world that Nike had engaged in the scandalous practice of paying talented, marketable athletes to wear its shoes.

This, in a sane world, wouldnt be damaging at all: Nike routinely pays athletes, including some of the biggest superstars in sports , millions of dollars to wear as many Swooshes as possible. It is only in the asinine world of college sports that engaging in such a transaction could damage anyone, or make someone like Avenatti think it might.

Ironically, though, the same prosecutors now going after Avenatti have spent the last two years propping up that insane world by prosecuting people who made payments to college kids in exchange for the labor that makes the NCAA a billion-dollar enterprise.

As U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman noted in a Monday news conference, the accusations Avenatti allegedly wanted to level against Nike mirrored those Bermans own office leveled against Adidas and others in 2017, when the Southern District of New York charged more than 10 people including two Adidas executives with fraud for paying bribes to get top college basketball recruits to attend certain schools.

Those criminal prosecutions are apparently what made Avenatti think the info he supposedly had on Nike was damaging. In effect, the feds investigation into college basketball corruption gave Avenatti the misguided idea to allegedly try to extort Nike over it.

Avenatti all but admitted this on Twitter last week:

Something tells me that we have not reached the end of this scandal. It is likely far far broader than imagined...https://t.co/iPH2Q9yVY6

Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 21, 2019","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Michael Avenatti","author_url":"https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti","cache_age":86400,"description":"Something tells me that we have not reached the end of this scandal. It is likely far far broader than imagined...https://t.co/iPH2Q9yVY6 Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 21, 2019\n\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Michael Avenatti on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1108818722767163392","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"5c99387ae4b0743555494fbc","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/michael-avenatti-nike-ncaa-athletes_n_5c99387ae4b0743555494fbc","entryTagsList":"michael-avenatti,college-basketball,nike-inc,united-states-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york,college-athletics","sectionSlug":"us-news","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"sports,politics,college","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.us-news","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/b6ec2a72-73f4-4a5c-8c28-42462d6b2597/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":8},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5c99387ae4b0743555494fbc","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"michael avenatti","slug":"michael-avenatti","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/michael-avenatti","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/michael-avenatti","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/michael-avenatti"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Michael Avenatti","slug":"michael-avenatti","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/michael-avenatti"},{"name":"College Basketball","slug":"college-basketball","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/college-basketball","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/college-basketball","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/college-basketball"},"relegenceSubjectId":978702,"topic":{"title":"College Sports","slug":"college-sports","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/topic/college-sports"},{"name":"Nike, Inc.","slug":"nike-inc","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/nike-inc","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/nike-inc","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/nike-inc"},"department":{"name":"Impact","slug":"impact"},"section":{"title":"Business","slug":"business"},"topic":{"title":"Nike","slug":"nike","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/impact/topic/nike"},{"name":"United States District Court for the Southern District of New York","slug":"united-states-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/united-states-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york"},"relegenceId":3473199,"url":"https://action.news/topic/united-states-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york"},{"name":"college athletics","slug":"college-athletics","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/college-athletics","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/college-athletics","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/college-athletics"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/college-athletics"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">

Something tells me that we have not reached the end of this scandal. It is likely far far broader than imagined...https://t.co/iPH2Q9yVY6
Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 21, 2019

The Department of Justice claims its trying to clean up college basketball, but its only made itself a defender of a status quo in which the NCAAs refusal to pay marketable, valuable athletes what they are worth has forced the payments under the table instead. This is most damaging not for shoe company executives or the sport itself, but for the athletes the Department of Justice refuses to defend even though it has the authority to .

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Avenatti was released from custody Monday night and told reporters outside the courthouse that he would be fully exonerated, The Associated Press reported. According to the AP, he said that he would never stop fighting the good fight against powerful corporations. But in following the feds, whose decision to defend the NCAA has only protected the grifters paradise that is major college sports, all Avenatti has done is put himself on the wrong side.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Related