Avenatti Draws on Ukraine Scandal to Say He Too Is Trump Target
Avenatti Draws on Ukraine Scandal to Say He Too Is Trump Target
(Bloomberg) -- Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti told a New York judge that Donald Trump’s Ukraine debacle is further evidence that the president uses the power of the federal government to target his political enemies.
Avenatti, who gained fame as the Trump-bashing lawyer for pornographic-film actress Stormy Daniels, said in a court filing Thursday that Trump “overtly uses and encourages the Department of Justice to target his enemies and act as his own personal law firm.”
Prosecutors say Avenatti tried to extort millions of dollars out of Nike Inc. while representing a coach for elite youth basketball players. Avenatti has said the case against him emerged after he weighed a possible run for president in 2020.
In Thursday’s filing, Avenatti cited Trump’s effort to get Ukraine to investigate the president’s top 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, saying it’s the same kind of abuse of office that he’s dealing with.
A representative for U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman declined to comment. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Avenatti was charged in March. In August, he asked the judge to dismiss the charges, calling it a “vindictive prosecution,” and the filing added to his pending request.
Prosecutors say the evidence against Avenatti is overwhelming. The government says it has video and audio recordings of Avenatti demanding Nike pay him more than $20 million to conduct an internal investigation of the company or face damaging claims that he planned to make public in a press conference.
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider
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