Michael Avenatti says he's 'scared' but 'confident' after being hit with federal charges

Attorney Michael Avenatti says he's "nervous" and "scared" — but still "confident" — after being arrested and hit with federal charges.

Avenatti earlier this week was charged with allegedly trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike by threatening to release damaging information about the company unless he was paid. He was also charged with wire and bank fraud. In his first TV interview since his arrest, Avenatti told CBS This Morning the allegations of extortion are "absurd."

"Nike knew, from the very first moment that I had any contact with Nike, that I was insisting that the truth about what Nike had done be disclosed to federal prosecutors and investigators," he said. That truth, Avenatti claimed, is that Nike has been "funneling payments" to high school athletes. Avenatti allegedly threatened to go public with allegations that was happening in violation of NCAA rules, per The New York Times, having promoted a press conference to make his claims on the same day of his arrest.

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While Avenatti said he didn't want to get into many specifics about the case, he insisted "the way this has been framed is not accurate," claiming he told Nike that "under no circumstances would we participate in anything that did not require full disclosure." While Avenatti told CBS he's worried about the possibility of life in prison, he also said he's "confident" because "the facts are on my side." Watch the interview below. Brendan Morrow