The University of Oregon has rejected a claim from embattled anti-Trump lawyer Michael Avenatti that it has been investigating allegations Nike bribed players to attend colleges the company was linked to.
“I can now confirm that the University of Oregon is also investigating the allegations that Nike paid illegal bribes to players to attend colleges affiliated with Nike, including Oregon,” the former lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels said via Twitter on Thursday. “I will fully cooperate with them and all other in an effort aimed at disclosing the truth.”
Molly Blancett, spokeswoman for the University of Oregon, said Avenatti was wrong: “There is no investigation at the University of Oregon [UO] because we have seen no evidence that would indicate one is required.”
“The UO’s general counsel has reached out to Mr. Avenatti as part of an effort to do due diligence to see if Mr. Avenatti has evidence of wrongdoing as he has alleged. We have not met with Mr. Avenatti. He has not produced any evidence directly to the UO for us to review.”
Avenatti, 48, is being charged by federal prosecutors for allegedly attempting to extort millions from Nike during a meeting with their lawyers. Prosecutors said he threatened “to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met.” He has denied the charges.
The lawyer, who briefly flirted with running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, was also charged by federal prosecutors in California for financial fraud and stealing from his own clients. He denies the charges.
In a tweet from his locked account, Avenatti responded to this Washington Examiner report: “You should have stated ‘my latest nonsense.’ You’re really not that good at this journalism thing are you?”
He then posted an article by The Oregonian, which does not refute the school’s original statement. It does show the university is not commenting on the issues beyond the statement they have already given.
Local sports reporter Brandon Kamerman said Avenatti messaged on Twitter to say his evidence of the University of Oregon’s investigation is an email from them asking him if he’s willing to meet and share his evidence, which the school had already stated they sent. When Kamerman asked Avenatti for the full email, Avenatti refused and accused him of bias.
WATCH: How straightforward reporting provoked celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti to slide into my DMs. pic.twitter.com/MV6jIArZ0g
— Brandon Kamerman (@B_Kamerman) May 17, 2019
