Say it ain’t so!
The Daily Emerald’s Michael Tobin reports that UO General Counsel Reed is not investigating, but he is interested in going to LA to meet Michael Avenatti and receive more information from him. But not to investigate. UNLV is investigating, but Reed is just probing the situation.
I hope Mr. Avenatti and Mr. Reed will resolve their semantic differences and provide the public with documentation showing that the Duck’s $3.5M Dana Altman did indeed provide Mr. Bol Bol with the customary emoluments that a Duck basketball player should reasonably expect as compensation for their service:
“Now the question is, did Bol Bol receive this money or not, what has the university done to look into it and what’s the university’s explanation for these payments?” Avenatti told the Emerald. “This really isn’t complicated. The only reason that it becomes complicated is if the university is trying to cover it up.” …
“I’m going to be frank – this smacks of a coverup,” Avenatti wrote in a May 18 email to Reed. “If you haven’t opened an investigation, why not? What have you opened – a probe, an inquiry? Why the word-smithing?”
Reed responded the same day, writing: “I have taken care not to characterize your conduct. I would appreciate it if you would similarly refrain. I am, however, interested in facts. If you have facts to share, I would appreciate the chance to receive them. Let me know if you have further evidence.”
Reed also told Avenatti that he could be in Los Angeles on May 30 or 31, saying that, at the time of writing the email, he was still interested in meeting Avenatti and receiving more information that what Avenatti had previously shared on social media.
Avenatti declined to share information with Reed.
“Let me know when and if the University gets serious about getting to the truth by hiring an unbiased third-party to lead a real investigation,” Avenatti wrote.
In an interview with the Emerald, Avenatti said that the UO is “playing games” and that the question of whether UO opened an investigation comes down to semantics.
“So is there an inquiry? Is there a probe? Is there an investigation? I mean this is ludicrous; they’re acting like they don’t want to know the truth,” Avenatti said. …
This is standard practice for Reed and the UO team. It’s better if they don’t know, and they will go out of their way to not know until they get caught. They’ll investigate once the facts are already proven and not a moment before.
The latest word is that Reed is starting to shit his pants, and UNLV sure isn’t helping. Once he learned Avenatti wouldn’t bite on the Munger plan, it put the burden right back on his lap. It seems the next step is likely going to be a sham investigation by a friendly firm billed as “independent”, which it looks like Avenatti is already prepped to deal with. Grab your popcorn!