Some people will do anything for money oh look, it’s disgraced celebrity lawyer and former presidential candidate Michael Avenatti I wonder why he’s here? Photo courtesy of the NY Mag.com
Now in its 14th season, American Greed is CNBC’s longest-running primetime show, one that is still following the money trail of some of the most unthinkable crimes back to the deplorables that perpetrated them. In upcoming episodes, Stacy Keach walks us through such news channel favorites as self-help guru gone mad Keith Raniere (“Nightmare at NXIVM”) and disgraced surgeon Christopher Duntsch (“The Real Dr. Death”) but the season premiere revolves around former rising law star Michael Avenatti and his Icarus like fall to the depths of which won’t be known for some time thanks to the number of court cases pending against him. Just remember, the government hates being poked but really hates it when they’re in the right.
Michael Avenatti spent most of his law career as a somewhat successful but relatively unknown LA-based lawyer until 2012 when he started branching off into a more parasitic role in the lives of his most vulnerable clients. From stealing millions in settlement money from a paraplegic to running a Seattle based coffee shop fully into the ground that was already on the verge of bankruptcy and then lying to the Feds about it, a pattern of conduct was emerging, one that would inevitably lead to his total financial collapse.
Photo courtesy of cnbc.com
Through a friend of a business friend type of connection, Michael was introduced to Stormy Daniels who wanted to go public with her previous affair with President Trump, and by the following day, a new celebrity law star was born. Michael used his new platform to rail against the establishment, speak up for those who felt the political parties had left them behind, and appeared on all the news programs he could get booked on so he could rail against the establishment, speak up for those who felt political parties had left them behind, etc. which allowed him to hide from the clients he previously stole from and reconfigure his image. From then on it was stealing from high-dollar clients, no more coffee shops and wrongful injury lawsuits for this guy, and he had Nike in his crosshairs. Nike, however, knows some people, those people being FBI people, who caught Avenatti on tape trying to extort the company out of millions, which led to Michael being charged and found guilty of extortion, attempt to extort, and wirefraud. Michael is currently under house arrest until his upcoming court date for sentencing, but Avenatti has numerous cases to settle with multiple clients, including one with Stormy Daniels regarding royalties from the sale of her book, so it’s going to be a while before anyone knows just how much time Michael will have to serve.
Photo courtesy of cnbc.com
With slightly cheesy taglines and segues reminiscent of Walter Cronkite, Stacy Keach’s brand of narration keeps the episode moving right along. The re-enactments are tolerable and make sense, the people who are interviewed are sharp and have impactful information to reiterate and confirm, and the stories themselves are interesting, even intriguing. If you haven’t caught an episode of American Greed I highly recommend it for people who want less Oxygen Channel and more real crime stories with an intelligent edge.
See the first 10 minutes of the Trials Of Michael Avenatti here
American Greed returns January 18th at 10 pm ET/PT