Attorney Mark Geragos most recently made news as the lead attorney for anthem-protester Colin Kaepernick, in his grievance case against the NFL. However, after a report on Monday, Geragos is now making headlines in connection with a case that could make him the defendant.
According to the Wall Street Journal via Sports Business reporter Darren Rovell, Geragos has been named as a co-conspirator in embattled Attorney Michael Avenatti’s alleged extortion scheme against Nike:
Wall Street Journal reports that the co-conspirator in the Nike extortion scheme is Mark Geragos, who recently represented Colin Kaepernick, a Nike endorser, in his collusion case against the NFL.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 25, 2019
According to Breitbart’s Joshua Caplan:
Geragos represents Empire actor Jussie Smollett, who is accused of staging a hate crime against himself. Geragos was the lead attorney in the grievance filed by Colin Kaepernick against the NFL. In which the former 49er accused the NFL of collusion, in an attempt to keep him from re-entering the league as punishment for the anthem protests he began in 2016. He is also a CNN legal analyst. It is unknown whether Geragos, who was not named in the criminal complaint, has been arrested or cooperating with investigators.
Caplan continued, “The complaint states that Avenatti, 48, and his co-conspirator met with attorneys for Nike on March 19 and threatened to disclose damaging information about the company unless it made the payments.
“The following day, in a phone conversation with the attorneys, Avenatti stated that if his demands were not met he would ‘take 10 billion dollars off your client’s market cap … I’m not fucking around,’ according to the complaint.
“Less than an hour before his arrest in New York was announced, Avenatti tweeted that he would be holding a press conference on Tuesday to “disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered.
“This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball,” he added.
“It was not clear what potential scandal he might have been referring to.”
Making matters even more complicated, is the fact that Kaepernick was also the face of Nike’s “Just Do It” ad campaign. during the time when Geragos is alleged to have been part 0f a scheme to extort Nike.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.