Stormy Daniels' Lawyer Michael Avenatti Arrested on Extortion Charges, Bank Fraud

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer of Stormy Daniels and an outspoken critic of President Trump, has been arrested on federal charges of bank fraud and extortion.

The 48-year-old lawyer has been accused of an alleged $20 million extortion attempt against Nike. He is also facing charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, and misappropriating client funds, according to Variety.

Just an hour before the charges were announced, Avenatti tweeted that he was holding a press conference on Tuesday to “disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by Nike.”

The criminal complain against Avenatti says he “devised a scheme to extort a company by means of an interstate communication by threatening to damage the company’s reputation if the company did not agree to make multi-million dollar payments to Avenatti and [co-conspirator], and further agree to pay an additional $1.5 million to a client of Avenatti’s,” according to CNBC.

“A lawyer has a basic duty not to steal from his client,” U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles Nick Hanna said in a statement. “Mr. Avenatti is facing serious criminal charges alleging he misappropriated client trust funds for his personal use and he defrauded a bank by submitting phony tax returns in order to obtain millions of dollars in loans.”