| After
Avenatti Finances Unsealed By Inner City
Press, iPad Cracked Now Look With Notice
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
Song
Radio
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Order
Affidavit
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 9 – Michael Avenatti's
financial affidavit to get a
publicly paid lawyer, which
Inner City Press has formally
sought to have unsealed for
eleven months, were on July 27
been ordered unsealed. Order.
Podcast here.
Aug 13 podcast here.
On August 27
Avenatti's Federal Defenders
wrote to Judge Furman to
arguing that, now that
Avenatti's iPad has been
accessed by DOJ, they do not
want the DOJ taint-team
involved. They asked for Judge
Furman himself to get involved
in the review.
On August 31,
this interim order: "ORDER
with respect to [143] LETTER
MOTION re: Objection to DOJ
Filter Team's Privilege Review
of Avenatti's iPad: Out of an
abundance of caution, the
Government shall not review
the contents of Mr. Avenatti's
iPad pending the Court's
decision on the omnibus
motion. SO ORDERED."
Now on September
9, Avenatti's motions have
been denied: "OPINION AND
ORDER as to Michael Avenatti
re: [115] MOTION Omnibus
Pre-Trial Motion and [143]
LETTER MOTION re Objection to
DOJ Filter Team's Privilege
Review of Avenatti's iPad: For
the foregoing reasons,
Avenatti's omnibus motion is
DENIED in its entirety.
Additionally, his objections
to the filter teams privilege
review of the contents of his
iPad in the first instance are
overruled, subject to the
requirement that, before any
contents are shared with any
member of the prosecution
team, the Government shall
give Avenatti reasonable
notice and an opportunity to
raise with the Court any
objections to the filter
team's privilege
determinations. The parties
are ordered to confer and, no
later than one week from the
date of this Opinion and
Order, submit a proposed order
consistent with the Court's
earlier scheduling order, see
ECF No. 55, setting pretrial
deadlines. The parties shall
file the proposed order on ECF
and, simultaneously, email a
version in Microsoft Word
format to the Court. The Clerk
of Court is directed to
terminate ECF Nos. 115 and
143. (Signed by Judge Jesse M.
Furman on 9/9/2021)." Full
order here.
[Meanwhile, Judge
Furman has written to the
Advisory Committee on Criminal
Rules to urge or suggest that
CJA Form 23s "may be judicial
documents subject to a right
of public access" under common
law, the First Amendment or
both. Hear, hear.]
On August 26,
after Avenatti's mistrial in
California due to DOJ missteps
as in US v. Nejad (and now US
v. Virgil Griffith), this
consent motion: "CONSENT
LETTER MOTION addressed to
Judge Paul G. Gardephe from
Scott Srebnick and Danya Perry
dated August 26, 2021 re:
[339] Judgment,,, re: Extend
Surrender Date to December 15,
2021 . Document filed by
Michael Avenatti. (Srebnick,
Scott)."
And on August 27,
it was granted: "MEMO
ENDORSEMENT [350] CONSENT
LETTER MOTION addressed to
Judge Paul G. Gardephe from
Scott Srebnick and Danya Perry
dated August 26, 2021 re:
[339] Judgment re: Extend
Surrender Date to December 15,
2021... ENDORSEMENT...The
application is granted.
(Signed by Judge Paul G.
Gardephe on 8/27/21) (jw)."
Watch this site.
On August 10
Avenatti's Federal Defenders
filed a copy of the affidavit
with multiple redactions. The
form refers on nearly every
question to an attachment,
which is blacked out in absurd
ways. It reads, for example,
"I own stock in two closely
held companies that may have
value: (a) [REDACTED] located
in [REDACTED]
and (b) [REDACTED]
located in [REDACTED]...
I technically
still have an
interest in a
private
aircraft
(model:
HondaJet 420)
that was
seized by the
IRS and is
still in their
possession.
This interest
is held
through a
single-purpose
entity named [REDACTED],"
and so forth.
Inner
City
Press
published the
redacted
affidavit on
its
DocumentCloud
here
and asked,
Will the Court
be accepting
this?
On
August 11, the
correct answer
was: No. "MEMO
ENDORSEMENT as
to Michael
Avenatti (1)
on [139]
LETTER MOTION
re: [139]
LETTER MOTION
addressed to
Judge Jesse M.
Furman from
Robert Baum,
Tamara Giwa
& Andrew
Dalack dated
August 10,
2021 re:
Letter Motion
In Response to
Court's Order
to File
Financial
Affidavit.
ENDORSEMENT:
The Court is
unpersuaded
that privacy
interests
justify
redacting the
names and
locations of
the corporate
entities in
Paragraphs 14,
15, and 17 of
ECF No.
139-1."
After hours on
August 12,
some
redactions
were removed:
Avenatti's owned
a plane
through
Passport 420
LLC; an
unnamed
"non-family-member
acquaintance"
paid a
NY-based
attorney in
the Nike case,
whose name is
redacted.
Unredacted:
Avenatti owns
stock in
Tyrian Systems
(aka Seek
Thermal) of
Santa Barbara,
CA and
Centurion
Holdings I,
LLC of St.
Louis
Missouri."
Not
to fast. Inner
City Press
research in
the hours
after the
removal of the
improper
redactions found
that Centurion
Holdings I,
LLC is based
in Arnold,
Missouri - and
"received a
PPP loan of
$60,477 in
May, 2020."
That's the
Paycheck
Protection
Program; the
funds came
through the
Central Bank
of St. Louis.
Bigger,
the aka: "Seek
Thermal, Inc
of 6300
Hollister Ave
in Goleta,
California received
a
Coronavirus-related
PPP loan from
the SBA of
$1,365,062.00
in April,
2020." We'll
have more on
this.
Watch
this site.
When after
three days of jury selection
the trial of Michael Avenatti
for extorting Nike began on
January 29, 2020 Assistant US
Attorney Robert Sobelman told
the selected jurors that
Avenatti was supposed to look
out for the interests of his
client, but he did not - he
had a weapon, social
media. More on Patreon here.
On August
7, 2020 in the Stormy Daniels
case, Avenatti had motions
heard by U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of
New York Judge Jesse M.
Furman. Inner City Press live
tweeted it, here.
On August
27, Inner City Press filed a
formal request that documents
in the case not be sealed,
full filing on Patreon here.
On
November 12, Inner City Press
made a third filing with Judge
Furman, on a decision
to unseal issued earlier in
the day by SDNY Judge J. Paul
Oetken after Inner City Press
filed to similarly unseal Lev
Parnas' co-defendant David
Correia's financial infor: "we
again ask, why should lower
income and less high profile
defendants in the SDNY -- and
now David Correia -- have
their financial information so
disclosed while Avenatti's
information is sealed in its
entirety? The documents at
issue should not be sealed and
should be made available."
On August
28, 2020 Judge Furman entered
an order: "The Court received
the attached communication
from Matthew Lee of Inner City
Press “seeking leave to be
heard and for the unsealing of
the CJA Form 23, affidavit,
and all associated documents”
relating to this litigation.
To the extent that Mr. Lee
(who is admitted to the bar of
the Southern District of New
York) seeks leave to be heard,
his application is GRANTED.
The Court reserves judgment on
the question of whether
Defendant’s CJA Form 23 and
related documents should be
unsealed. SO ORDERED. Dated:
August 28, 2020 New York, New
York JESSE M. FURMAN." Docket
No. 85, on Inner City Press'
DocumentCloud, here.
Now on
July 27, 2021, Judge Furman
four times citing Inner City
Press has ordered
Avenatti's affidavits
unsealed: "Avenatti filed a
letter brief arguing that the
Initial Financial Affidavit
should remain under seal. ECF
No. 80 (“Def.’s Mem.”).
Thereafter, the Court received
submissions from Inner City
Press, a media outlet that
intervened to seek disclosure
of the Financial Affidavits,
ECF Nos. 85, 90, 99... The
Defendant initially argued
that the Government lacked
standing “to assert any right
on behalf of the public to
access Mr. Avenatti’s sworn
financial statements.” Def.’s
Mem. 7 n.1 (citing United
States v. Hickey, 185 F.3d
1064 (9th Cir. 1999)).
Subsequently, however, the
Court granted leave to Inner
City Press to be heard on the
Defendant’s motion, ECF No.
85, which indisputably does
have standing to assert such
rights." Full order here,
filings due August 10. Watch
this site.
This case is US v. Avenatti, 19-cr-374
(Furman).
***
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