On Monday, Michael Avenatti, the one-time Democratic star, found himself in handcuffs for extortion and fraud, a long ways from his earlier status as a potential Democratic presidential hopeful.
According to charges filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Avenatti demanded millions of dollars from Nike if the company didn’t meet his demands, telling the company’s lawyers, “I’m not fucking around with this, and I’m not continuing to play games.” Adding, “I’ll go take a billion dollars off your client’s market cap. But I’m not fucking around.”
On the same day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California also charged Avenatti with bank and wire fraud for allegedly embezzling money from a client and using fraudulent tax returns to obtain millions of dollars in loans.
If true, this wouldn’t be the first time that Avenatti, self-described “Fighter for Good,” has used other people’s money for his own gain. Indeed, that seems to have been a key purpose of the Fight PAC Avenatti set up in fall 2018.
According the organization’s website, thefightpac.org, “Our mission is simple: We are not afraid to FIGHT BACK against Donald Trump and his criminal enterprise operating out of the White House.” Adding, “We can no longer afford to bring nail clippers to a gun fight. It is time to fight fire with fire. Be a part of the #FightClub.”
Now, there might be plenty of ways to define the “fight” against President Trump, but it’s hard to see how Avenatti’s PAC even tried to do that. He paid no full-time employees, linked his own social media profiles to the PAC’s website, and funded not a single candidate with the money he raised.
Instead, Avenatti used the money to fund what looks to be mostly his own travel and dining expenses.
According to documents on file with the Federal Election Commission, of the $115,072 the PAC raised, Avenatti spent more than $50,000 on food, travel, and lodging. His stylish donor-funded travel included stays at hotels such as the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, the Jefferson Hotel in D.C., and the Condado Plaza Hilton in Puerto Rico, as well as high-end meals at restaurants such as Craig’s in West Hollywood.
Of the PAC’s other expenditures, the majority, $25,000, went to online advertising, including an ad before the midterm elections that urged people to vote and cast Avenatti as a champion of the people. The Fight PAC also put funds toward consulting fees and fees to access NPG VAN, a voter database used by Democratic campaigns.
Avenatti sold the idea of #Resistance, and enough people were willing buyers that even he could raise money. What they were buying with their tens of thousands of dollars in donations to The Fight PAC, however, wasn’t a champion of the good fight but a vanity campaign for a fraudster lawyer who likes to travel and eat in style.
