Stormy Daniels Arrested In Ohio Strip Club, Michael Avenatti Says

Updated July 12, 2018 at 11:08 AM

Stormy Daniels, the porn star who is suing President Donald Trump over what she said was a “hush money” agreement, was arrested in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night, her lawyer said.

Daniels was scheduled to appear at the Sirens strip club on Wednesday and Thursday nights, the club’s website says. But her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said she was taken into custody after she allowed a club patron to touch her.

Just rcvd word that my client @StormyDaniels was arrested in Columbus Ohio whole performing the same act she has performed across the nation at nearly a hundred strip clubs. This was a setup & politically motivated. It reeks of desperation. We will fight all bogus charges. #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018

She was arrested for allegedly allowing a customer to touch her while on stage in a non sexual manner! Are you kidding me? They are devoting law enforcement resources to sting operations for this? There has to be higher priorities!!! #SetUp #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018

We expect her to be released on bail shortly. We also expect that she will be charged with a misdemeanor for allowing “touching.” We will vehemently contest all charges. #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018

My client @StormyDaniels will issue a plea of “Not Guilty” to the three misdemeanor charges.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018

Online court records show that Daniels was accused of violating an obscure Ohio law that prohibits physical contact between strip club employees and patrons. Avenatti told 10TV that enforcing the law is a “ridiculous use of resources.”

A spokesperson for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office ― the same county where Daniels was charged ― told The Columbus Dispatch last year that it had “not had any complaints or reasons to apply this law” in the decade since it was passed.

A woman who answered the phone at the strip club declined to comment on the incident.

Daniels has said previously that she had sex with Trump in 2006 after his wife, Melania, had given birth to their son, Barron. Trump has denied having sex with Daniels but his lawyer Rudy Giuliani has acknowledged that she was paid $130,000 by Michael Cohen as part of a nondisclosure agreement.

She is suing to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement, which she signed shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

This story has been updated with information about Daniels’ arrest.

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