LOS ANGELES—As he awaits a judge’s ruling on whether his bail will be revoked, former Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti has apparently suffered another personal setback, as his law school alma mater has moved “under the radar” to disassociate itself from him.
Avenatti attended George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C., entering as a night student but graduating at the top of his class in 2000. That same year, shortly after his graduation, he began making financial donations to the school, according to a 2010 profile of the lawyer in the school’s alumni magazine.
In 2010, he donated $250,000 toward an annual scholarship for one student, to be called The Michael J. Avenatti Award for Excellence in Pre-Trial and Trial Advocacy. The scholarship was aimed at night students like Avenatti himself, whom he said “face more challenges. They are effectively juggling two jobs — their regular day job and law school. The financial aid community sometimes overlooks them because they don’t fit the traditional law student profile.”
About 18 years after graduating, Avenatti suddenly exploded on the media and political landscape, by representing AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against Donald Trump. But a year after that, Avenatti’s entire career appeared to flame out in a series of scandals and indictments on a variety of financial crime charges and ethics violations.
By early this year, Avenatti found himself behind bars, and in February he was convicted of attempting to extort the Nike corporation out of $20 million. he is also charged with embezzlement against Daniels. According to prosecutors, he diverted nearly $300,000 from Daniels’ 2018 publisher’s book advance into his own bank account, and used the money to finance his jet-setting lifestyle.
With all of the controversy swirling around Avenatti, George Washington University has now changed the name of the Avenatti-funded scholarship, according to a report by The Washington Times. The scholarship is now titled simply the “Graduation Award for Excellence in Pre-Trial Advocacy.”
A GWU spokesperson told The Washington Times that “we don’t have any additional information at this time,” as to why the name was changed.
Avenatti was freed from jail in April on a $1 million bond, due to concerns that he could contract COVID-19 while in Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. He is currently confined under house arrest at the home of a friend, Jay Manheimer, in Venice, California.
But prosecutors alleged that Avenatti violated the terms of his release by using an internet-connected computer to write his own defense briefs, resulting in what turned into a chaotic conference call in which a U.S. prosecutor deposed Manheimer on June 17. A judge’s ruling on whether Avenatti must return to jail is expected, possibly as soon as this week.
Photo By Showtime "The Circus" / Wikimedia Commons
