Michael Avenatti: Stormy Daniels' former lawyer 'saw dollar signs' as he tried to shake down Nike, court hears

Prosecutors say embattled attorney 'sold out his client and threatened to harm a major company, all to line his pockets'

Michael Avenatti, best known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against Donald Trump, “saw dollar signs for himself” when he tried to extort Nike for up to $25m (£19.1m), prosecutors told a court.

The embattled attorney has been jailed without bond while facing a maximum prison sentence of 335 years for 36 counts of fraud and identity theft in a separate case.

He was in court on Wednesday as jurors were told of his alleged attempts to extort the multi-billion dollar company by threatening to go public with evidence the shoemaker had paid off the families of highly ranked high school basketball prospects. The trial was expected to last over two weeks.

When the first witness — attorney Scott Wilson — was asked to identify Mr Avenatti in the courtroom, the defendant sprang to his feet before the witness could point him out.

Mr Wilson testified he was representing Nike when Mr Avenatti in March 2019 threatened to stage a news conference and go public with allegations Nike was corrupting college basketball unless “we paid him millions of dollars”.

Earlier, Assistant US Attorney Robert Sobelman pointed a finger at Mr Avenatti and said he “sold out his client and threatened to harm a major company, all to line his pockets”. The prosecutor accused him of using “a weapon, a modern weapon” to try to force the company to pay him up to $25m (£19.1m).

That weapon, Mr Sobelman said, was Mr Avenatti’s large social media following and access to cable television programmes.

“When he looked at the coach, he did not see a client to help,” the prosecutor said. “He saw dollar signs for himself.”

Howard Srebnick, Mr Avenatti's attorney, told jurors his client's negotiations with Nike were “not extortion” but were the enthusiastic representation of a coach whose league of 40 teams in California was being sabotaged by Nike withdrawing its annual $72,000 (£55,035) sponsorship.

He said the coach, liking Mr Avenatti’s “bravado”, chose his representation to gain his ability to get the attention of the company because he had the platform to do so.

Mr Srebnick, aware that some correspondence to be shown to jurors includes profanity, warned them that Mr Avenatti can be “tenacious, bullish”.

But he added: “It’s not extortion because you use harsh language in negotiating for a client.”

He urged them to reject the notion that his client’s “aggressive tenacious, demanding behaviour ... constitutes a crime”.

Mr Avenatti also faces an April trial in New York on charges that he cheated Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, of proceeds from a book deal, as well as a May trial in Los Angeles on charges that he ripped off clients and others for millions of dollars.

He has denied all charges and maintained he was targeted by the Trump administration after clashing with the president on social media.

Prosecutors had asked US District Judge Paul G Gardephe to prevent defence lawyers from mentioning Ms Daniels and Mr Trump, but the judge said it would be impossible because it would otherwise seem “Avenatti suddenly became this incredibly public lawyer magically”.

Mr Avenatti grew so famous in the past two years that he considered a run for president after making over 100 appearances on cable television programmes and elsewhere to talk about lawsuits Ms Daniels brought against Mr Trump over an affair she claimed occurred before he became president.

He has been held without bail since he was arrested in Los Angeles this month after prosecutors there said he violated the conditions of his bail by moving money around improperly.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press