Avenatti files $94M claim saying imprisonment was retaliation

Suspended California attorney Michael J. Avenatti filed a $94 million claim Thursday accusing former Attorney General William Bar and President Donald Trump of having him arrested and imprisoned for his political statements.

“This is the necessary first step to take before filing our suit,” Avenatti’s attorney Daniel A. McGuinness of New York said in an email Thursday. “We will be filing a lawsuit in federal court in the coming months to get justice and expose the truth — that Michael was deprived basic human rights for speaking out against a petty aspiring dictator.”

The claim alleges the government is liable for the actions of its employees including alleged intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, false arrest and violations of constitutional due process and free speech rights.

Avenatti was sentenced to 2½ years in prison last year for attempted extortion of Nike Inc. He was held in federal prison in New York pending his trial. He defended himself in a federal trial in Orange County last year on charges connected to alleged wire fraud and cheating of clients but won his motion for mistrial. He is on trial in New York on charges of cheating his client Stormy Daniels of money from a book deal.

Avenatti’s claim says he was placed in solitary confinement in New Jersey for three months on the grounds that he violated his terms of release but that the imprisonment was retaliation for his criticism of Trump and Barr.

Avenatti’s claim said he was forbidden to communicate with other inmates, family or friends and his request for reading material was originally denied, but he was later given a copy of “The Art of the Deal,” co-written by Trump.

Avenatti also claimed a prison employee told him he was being housed in the restricted unit on orders from Barr.

Neither the Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs nor Trump’s press team responded to inquiries via email regarding the claim’s allegations.