Tapes of Avenatti threats highlight extortion trial closings

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Avenatti's recorded threats to reduce the value of Nike's stock if he wasn't paid millions of dollars highlighted a prosecutor's closing argument Tuesday at the prominent lawyer's extortion trial.

The taped conversation last March between Avenatti and Nike lawyers was played in Manhattan federal court even before Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky spoke.

On the tape, Avenatti could be heard threatening to take $5 billion or $6 billion off the value of Nike's stock if his demands were not met.

When the prosecutor spoke, he told jurors: “That is what extortion sounds like.”

Closing arguments were the culmination of a three-week trial for the California lawyer who gained fame representing porn star Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against President Donald Trump. For a time, the 48-year-old attorney was a frequent guest on cable television programs.

Prosecutors say Avenatti threatened to use his fame to stage a news conference and deliver proof that Nike executives were corrupting college basketball by funding payments to elite young players and their families unless he was paid $25 million to conduct an internal probe of the apparel giant.

At the time, prosecutors say, Avenatti faced at least $11 million in debts. His former law firm office manager testified that finances were so desperate last March that his several employees had been evicted from their $50,000-a-month offices and were working from their homes.

Defense lawyers say the government was trying to criminalize the kinds of negotiations that lawyers engage in every day when they aggressively represent clients. They were expected to offer closing arguments of their own later Tuesday on behalf of Avenatti, who has pleaded not guilty.

In his closing, Podolsky repeatedly played...