July 12 - Stormy Daniels, the porn star who has
said she had an affair with U.S. President Donald Trump, was
arrested while performing at an Ohio strip on Thursday, but the
charges were dismissed and her lawyer called the arrest a
politically motivated setup.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was accused
of touching three customers who were undercover vice detectives
in the early-morning incident, police in the Ohio capital
Columbus said in a statement. Her attorney, Michael Avenatti,
said the touching was non-sexual.
Online court records showed that three misdemeanor charges
of illegally operating a sexually oriented business related to
knowingly touching a patron were dismissed.
"I am pleased to report that the charges against my client
@stormydaniels have been dismissed in their entirety," Avenatti
said on Twitter, thanking prosecutors for their
"professionalism."
I am pleased to report that the charges against my client @stormydaniels have been dismissed in their entirety (below motion was just granted). I want to thank Joe Gibson & his colleagues at the prosecutors ofc for their professionalism starting with our first call early this am. pic.twitter.com/xHPSWsyqM2
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018
Under Ohio law, strip club patrons and nude or semi-nude
employees are not allowed to touch each other.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said his office had
determined that Daniels committed no crime because she did not
perform regularly at the club, as required under the law, and
confirmed that the charges were dismissed.
Klein said his office was not involved in what he called a
"sting operation."
Avenatti had earlier said on Twitter said, "This was a setup
& politically motivated. It reeks of desperation. We will fight
all bogus charges."
Columbus police said the arrest of Daniels and two other
women at Sirens Gentlemen's Club was part of a long-term
investigation into allegations of human trafficking,
prostitution and other vice-related violations at adult
entertainment clubs in the city.
Daniels, 39, has filed two civil lawsuits against Trump,
with whom she said she had a sexual encounter in 2006, a decade
before he was elected president. One seeks to get out of a
non-disclosure agreement she signed the month before the 2016
election in exchange for $130,000 to keep the affair secret,
while the other is for defamation. Trump has denied the affair.
According to an arrest affidavit cited by the New York
Times, Daniels was dancing topless at the club when she pressed
patrons' faces into her chest, fondled the breasts of some women
in the audience and performed similar acts on three police
officers who were at the establishment.
Avenatti told MSNBC his client was released on $6,000 bail,
and that he did not expect the case to affect her lawsuits
against Trump.
Daniels has said Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen
paid her the $130,000. Cohen has confirmed he made the payment.
Daniels is also suing Cohen. In May, Trump said Daniels was paid
to stop "false and extortionist accusations."
Prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible crimes
related to his business dealings, a source familiar with the
investigation told Reuters in April. He has not been charged.
Daniels has been on tour since last winter, appearing at
strip clubs across the United States, and had been due to
perform again at Sirens on Thursday night.
Avenatti on Twitter
cited an official statement from Daniels saying that because of
her arrest Thursday night's performance was cancelled.