Michael Avenatti says Stormy Daniels was arrested in Ohio, claims it was 'politically motivated'
Early Thursday, lawyer Michael Avenatti said that his most famous client, porn actress and director Stormy Daniels, had been arrested at a strip club in Columbus, Ohio. Daniels was arrested while "performing the same act she has performed across the nation at nearly a hundred strip clubs," he tweeted. "This was a setup & politically motivated. It reeks of desperation. We will fight all bogus charges." He told The Associated Press and NBC News that undercover vice officers were at the Sirens club, and after a customer touched Daniels, they pounced. "It's absurd that law enforcement resources are being spent to conduct a sting operation related to customers touching performers in a strip club in a non-sexual manner," Avenatti told AP.
An Ohio law known as the Community Defense Act bars anyone from touching nude or seminude dancers unless they are a family member, AP explains. Avenatti is representing Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump, with whom she purportedly had an extramarital affair, and ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who indisputably paid Daniels $130,000 to stay quiet about her allegations.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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