Avenatti hid rogue talks, client says

Michael Avenatti kept his own client in the dark as he threatened Nike with a publicity crisis and demanded a $22.5 million payout, testimony revealed Monday.

Jeffrey Auerbach, an adviser to prominent youth basketball coach Gary Franklin, said they both had no idea that Avenatti was playing hyperaggressive hardball with a Nike attorney in March 2019. Auerbach had recommended Franklin hire Avenatti to negotiate with the company over the coach’s claims two executives ordered him to pay the families of prominent prospects.

Franklin, who had coached the Nike-sponsored California Supreme youth basketball team, did not want to completely burn a bridge but instead negotiate discretely.

“Gary wanted to advise the company of what had gone on and rid the company of what we called the bad operators at Nike [Youth Basketball League],” Auerbach, a business executive with ties to Nike, testified.

“You just don’t threaten people you’re trying to forge and reestablish a relationship [with].”

But behind the scenes, Avenatti — who became famous by representing porn star Stormy Daniels in legal fights with President Trump — was doing just that. A wiretap and videos played in Manhattan Federal Court reveal he demanded the company hire him to conduct an internal investigation costing more than $20 million. Avenatti also demanded $22.5 million to make him and Franklin “ride off into the sunset.”

But Avenatti only told Auerbach and Franklin on phone calls that meetings with Nike “went great” and that they were close to reaching a deal, Auerbach said. Avenatti also fired off tweets putting public pressure on Nike, leaving Auerbach with “utter shock and horror.”

Avenatti’s tactics were “negative, disrespectful, threatening, counterintuitive,” he said. His concerns mounted about Avenatti — and then the bulldog lawyer was arrested on charges of attempting to extort Nike.

Avenatti’s defense team argues that Franklin and Auerbach approved of his negotiating style.