Authorities: Attorney Michael Avenatti tried to extort Nike

Michael Avenatti, the high profile critic of President Donald Trump, was charged Monday by federal prosecutors with trying to extort Nike by threatening to issue damaging allegations against the company unless it paid his client millions.

The charges mark the latest and most remarkable chapter in the strange public saga of the California lawyer who has represented Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress who was paid to keep quiet during the 2016 presidential campaign about her alleged sexual tryst with Trump several years ago.

That case catapulted Avenatti to cable television news fame, but prosecutors now say he threatened to use that platform to extract money from the company.

Authorities charge Avenatti threatened to hold a news conference on the eve of the NCAA basketball tournament to reveal damaging allegations against the firm unless it paid his client $1.5 million and agreed to hire Avenatti and another lawyer for $15 to $25 million to conduct an "internal investigation" into the allegations.

The charging document said that Avenatti proposed another alternative to hiring him to conduct an investigation - "a total payment of $22.5 million from Nike to resolve any claims (the client) might have and additionally to buy Avenatti's silence."