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Stormy Daniels Faces Misdemeanor Charges After Being Arrested at an Ohio Strip Club

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Adult film actress Stormy Daniels was arrested in Ohio early Thursday and faces three counts of illegally touching a patron at a sexually...
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Adult film actress Stormy Daniels was arrested in Ohio early Thursday and faces three counts of illegally touching a patron at a sexually oriented business, court records show.

Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, tweeted that his client was taken into custody at a strip club in Columbus.

“She was arrested for allegedly allowing a customer to touch her while on stage in a nonsexual manner! Are you kidding me?” Avenatti tweeted.

“They are devoting law enforcement resources to sting operations for this? There has to be higher priorities.”

Under Ohio law, an employee who regularly appears nude or seminude on the premises of a sexually oriented business is not allowed to touch anyone who’s not a family member while nude or seminude at that business.

Daniels made headlines worldwide for allegedly having an affair with Donald Trump in 2006 — and for the $130,000 she says she received from his attorney in 2016 in exchange for her silence about the alleged sexual encounter. Trump has denied the affair happened.

Avenatti said Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, was arrested while “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,” his tweet said. “We will fight all bogus charges.”

When reached by CNN, Avenatti confirmed that the information he tweeted is accurate. He later said Daniels is expected to be released on bail and charged with a misdemeanor for allowing touching.

Documents on the Franklin County Municipal Court website show that Daniels will be arraigned Friday at 9 a.m.

Last month, the Sirens Gentlemen’s Club posted on its website that Daniels was scheduled to perform there Wednesday and Thursday. A person who answered the phone at the club declined to comment.

Daniels is suing Trump and his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to be released from a nondisclosure agreement that she says she signed days before the 2016 presidential election to prevent her from publicly discussing the alleged affair.

Avenatti alleges the payment was a violation of campaign finance law and was designed to suppress speech. Trump has said he personally reimbursed Cohen for that payment.

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