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Clare Bronfman Faints in Bklyn Courtroom After Judge Asks if She has Been Represented by Porn Atty Michael Avenatti

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Philanthropist Clare Bronfman fainted Wednesday in a Brooklyn courtroom after the federal judge who is presiding over the racketeering case against her asked if she had previously been represented by embattled attorney Michael Avenatti.

By: Harry Cherry

“Did she retain Mr. Avenatti to represent her in this case, yes or no?” Judge Nicholas Garaufis asked one of Bronfman’s attorneys, according to the New York Post.

Mr. Avenatti was charged Monday in two separate federal indictments with a slew of crimes, including extortion, conspiracy, bank fraud, and wire fraud.

Federal prosecutors in New York alleged that Mr. Avenatti tried to extort Nike for more than $20 million dollars if demands made by him and his client were not met.

“Today we announced criminal extortion charges against Michael Avenatti,” Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Monday afternoon at a press conference. “The charges are based on Avenatti’s scheme to extract more than $20,000,000 in payments from a public company by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict financial and reputable harm on the company.”

Mr. Avenatti threatened that if his financial demands for a settlement were not met he would hold a press conference with the intent to damage Nike’s quarterly earnings.

Later Monday afternoon, federal prosecutors in the Central District of California released a statement and subsequent court documents charging Mr. Avenatti with bank and wire fraud.

“A lawyer has a basic duty not to steal from his client,” Nick Hanna, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement. “Mr. Avenatti is facing serious criminal charges alleging he misappropriated client trust funds for his personal use and he defrauded a bank by submitting phony tax returns in order to obtain millions of dollars in loans.”

Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Avenatti embezzled money obtained from a client settlement to fund a lavish lifestyle and that he submitted fraudulent tax returns to a federally-insured bank in order to obtain loans his law firm and a coffee shop which he owned.

Following Ms. Bronfman’s medical incident on Wednesday, it was revealed that Mr. Avenatti did, in fact, consult with federal prosecutors, in an attempt to reach a plea deal with prosecutors.

“There is no privilege associated with retention of counsel. I control and run this case!” Judge Garaufis said, lashing out at the defendants’ attorneys.

It was revealed that Mark Geragos, Ms. Bronfman’s principal attorney, was an unindicted co-conspirator in Mr. Avenatti’s extortion case.

When asked while leaving federal court if he was currently cooperating with federal investigators regarding their case into Mr. Avenatti, he softly replied “No,” according to the New York Post.

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