Michael Avenatti: Stormy Daniels lawyer accused of fraud
US lawyer Michael Avenatti, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against US President Donald Trump, has been charged with fraud.
Prosecutors says he tried to extort more than $20m (£15m) from Nike, threatening to use his profile to inflict reputational harm on the firm.
A frequent guest on TV news and talk shows, Mr Avenatti emerged as a fierce critic of President Trump.
At one point he said he was considering running for president himself.
Prosecutors in New York announced the charges relating to the alleged attempt to extort money from Nike on Monday.
Mr Avenatti, according to a criminal complaint , met a lawyer for Nike earlier this month and allegedly threatened to release damaging information about the company unless it made "multi-million dollar payments" to him and another, unnamed co-conspirator.
He also, allegedly, demanded $1.5m (£1.13m) for an individual he claimed to represent.
"I'll go take $10bn (£7.56bn) off your client's market cap", Mr Avenatti reportedly told a Nike lawyer during a meeting last week.
He was arrested in New York at 12:30 EST (17:30 GMT), shortly after announcing the he would hold a press conference about a scandal surrounding Nike.