Avenatti Googled “Insider Trading” And “Nike Puts” Before Attempting To Shake Down Sneaker Giant

No, this is not from the Onion.

Somehow, before driving his firm and himself into near bankruptcy due to his insatiable lifestyle addiction, Michael Avenatti was once a respected California lawyer.

A respected California lawyer who clearly had no qualms googling things like “Insider trading” and “Nike puts” before allegedly attempting to extort the world’s biggest manufacturer of athletic shoes. Even if he wasn’t arrested for the threats, the SEC would have almost certainly nailed him if he tried to trade on his own press conference.

With Avenatti’s trial set to begin next week, prosecutors are arguing that the judge should admit a history of Avenatti’s google searches, which they argued offer critical insights into Avenatti’s state of mind while he was concocting the so-called extortion plot (Avenatti originally partnered with another celebrity lawyer, Mark Geragos, according to media reports. However, Geragos was never charged in the scheme).

According to Bloomberg, prosecutors informed US District Judge Paul Gardephe about the emails on Monday, and are now trying to convince the judge to let the jury see the evidence. However, the judge has raised some hackles with their argument, pointing out that Avenatti is not being tried for insider-trading related charges.

Despite being re-arrested two weeks ago for violating his bail terms by – what else? – trying to conceal money from the government, Avenatti appeared in court Monday wearing a real suit (instead of an orange jumpsuit) for his pre-trial hearing. Opening statements in the trial could start as soon as Tuesday.

We’re certain Avenatti’s lawyers will use every trick in the book to try to redirect the jury’s focus to Nike’s misdeeds, rather than Avenatti’s allegedly illegal behavior. They’ve already leaked information about texts showing Nike lawyers mocking the FBI to the press, suggesting that the company’s wrongdoing will be a cornerstone of their defense.

But judge Gardephe said Monday he won’t allow the trial to “involve an exploration” of whether Nike sought to corrupt youth basketball. But the lawyers can argue to the jury that Nike’s intentions when they approached the FBI about Avenatti were less than pure.

Nike argued in a filing that Avenatti was simply trying to “put the government’s and Nike’s conduct on trial” because he can’t dodge the video and audio evidence of his demands on the company.

“He intends to misdirect the jury – pointing their attention anywhere but on his own conduct – in the hope that at least one of them will be confused by evidence that is legally irrelevant and factually inaccurate,” Nike said.

Responding to this, the “creepy porn lawyer’s” legal team described the google searches mentioned above as a “red herring.”

“The obvious implication is that Mr. Avenatti illegally traded in Nike stock based upon information obtained from Coach Franklin,” the defense lawyers said in a Jan. 24 court filing. “That did not happen, the government has no evidence that it did, and Mr. Avenatti is not charged with insider trading.”

Sure, he didn’t trade on his information. But we’d off an analogy to illustrate what these google searches represent: It’d be like if a man accused of attempted murderer had googled “best strategies for disposing of a body” before the assault.