Attorney Michael Avenatti sought to have his 2020 conviction for extorting Nike and defrauding a client overturned.
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 28 said it was rejecting a bid by lawyer Michael Avenatti, known for representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels, to overturn his conviction in a Nike-related case.
The justices did not explain their decision. The court said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, did not participate in the decision to turn down Mr. Avenatti’s writ for certiorari, or review of a lower court ruling.
Mr. Avenatti has represented a woman who accused Justice Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Mr. Avenatti was convicted in 2020 of extorting Nike and defrauding a client.
At the center of the Nike-related case was a threat, caught on an audio recording, made by Mr. Avenatti in 2019. He threatened to tarnish the athletic wear company’s reputation and hurt its stock price by exposing its alleged corrupt payments to the families of college basketball prospects.
Mr. Avenatti was heard threatening to “blow the lid” on Nike at a press conference unless it paid up to $25 million for him to conduct a probe, plus $1.5 million to his client, youth basketball coach Gary Franklin.
Mr. Franklin testified that he did not want an investigation and merely wanted Nike to resume sponsoring his team.
Nike has denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said Mr. Avenatti was looking to enrich himself and pay down heavy debts tied to his law firm and a recent divorce. He was convicted of extorting Nike and of committing “honest services fraud” against Mr. Franklin, in which someone in a position of authority deprives a client or constituent of his right to honest services.
Mr. Avenatti’s lawyers in a Supreme Court filing argued that the 1988 statute criminalizing honest services fraud is so vague that it violates the right of defendants to due process under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. They also urged the justices to take up the case to declare that settlement negotiations like Mr. Avenatti’s communications with Nike cannot give rise to criminal extortion charges.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the nation’s top court should decline to take up the case, noting that Mr. Avenatti did not raise the vagueness argument in briefs to a federal appeals court.
