Former presidential aspirant and CNN talking head Avenatti Guilty
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Turley:
"There is a tragic quality to all of this as a modern Icarus who flew too close to the sun. Michael became wildly successful as an attorney but also wildly spent what he earned from major victories in court. This included private jets, expensive condos, and an indulgent lifestyle. His life was truly a rags to riches story of a kid who worked his way through school and then rocketed to the top of elite lawyers. That story became a tragedy when his rapid climb was followed by an equally rapid plunge from a great height.
I am terribly saddened as I think of that young, ambitious lawyer who sat in my office asking to become a research assistant. That is still the Michael that I remember: highly intelligent, highly motivated. It is hard not to feel a sense of paternalism over our students as we watch them progress in law school and in their professions. Indeed, the greatest joy in teaching is to watch the optimism and excitement of your students as they set out on their careers. We see them when there is nothing but a horizon before them and limitless possibilities. As shocked as I was by these charges, I still cling to the memory of that young law student breaming with talent and drive. He was ultimately undone not by this aptitude but his appetite. That is the true tragedy."
Not sure I would have been quite as charitable.
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Turley:
"There is a tragic quality to all of this as a modern Icarus who flew too close to the sun. Michael became wildly successful as an attorney but also wildly spent what he earned from major victories in court. This included private jets, expensive condos, and an indulgent lifestyle. His life was truly a rags to riches story of a kid who worked his way through school and then rocketed to the top of elite lawyers. That story became a tragedy when his rapid climb was followed by an equally rapid plunge from a great height.
I am terribly saddened as I think of that young, ambitious lawyer who sat in my office asking to become a research assistant. That is still the Michael that I remember: highly intelligent, highly motivated. It is hard not to feel a sense of paternalism over our students as we watch them progress in law school and in their professions. Indeed, the greatest joy in teaching is to watch the optimism and excitement of your students as they set out on their careers. We see them when there is nothing but a horizon before them and limitless possibilities. As shocked as I was by these charges, I still cling to the memory of that young law student breaming with talent and drive. He was ultimately undone not by this aptitude but his appetite. That is the true tragedy."
Not sure I would have been quite as charitable.
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Convicted California lawyer Michael Avenatti wants leniency at sentencing for defrauding former client Stormy Daniels of hundreds of thousands of dollars, his lawyers say, citing a letter in which he told Daniels: “I am truly sorry.”
The emailed letter, dated May 13, was included in a submission his lawyers made late Thursday in Manhattan federal court in advance of a June 2 sentencing.
Avenatti, 51, should face no more than three years in prison for his latest conviction, or 4 1/2 years in all, because two convictions have destroyed his life, the lawyers said.
“This sobering reality is as sufficient and powerful a punishment and deterrence as any. Worse, Mr. Avenatti’s extreme rise and fall played out on the most public of platforms, an experience he is unlikely to ever recover from reputationally,” they said.
Last year, Avenatti was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike by threatening to tarnish its reputation with claims that the sportswear giant was immersed in a college basketball recruiting scandal in which cash payouts were used to steer top-tier athletes to the best programs.
Then he was convicted by a jury this year for pocketing up to $300,000 of an $800,000 payout to Daniels for her autobiography, spending some of the money on his firm’s payroll and personal expenses.
Insisting on representing himself just before Daniels was to testify, Avenatti forced his lawyers to take a back seat as he confronted his former client over advances she received for her book, “Full Disclosure,” published in fall 2018.
I assume that he still won't be running for President?
