Charges against Daniels from strip club arrest are dismissed
Misdemeanor charges were dropped Thursday against Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic film actress who said she had an affair with Donald Trump before he became president, after she was arrested at an Ohio strip club Wednesday night, her lawyer said.
Undercover vice officers from the Columbus Police Department had showed up at the venue, Sirens Gentlemen’s Club in northeastern Columbus. They said in affidavits that while dancing topless, Clifford, who performs under the name Stormy Daniels, pressed patrons’ faces into her chest and fondled the breasts of some women in the audience.
She performed similar acts on three officers and grabbed one by the buttocks, according to the affidavits. Clifford was charged with three counts of illegal sexually oriented activity, a misdemeanor, the arrest report says.
The law under which Clifford was arrested applies to people who “regularly” appear nude or seminude at a particular establishment, but Clifford had not appeared at the club consistently, prosecutors said in a motion dismissing the charges. She had only two appearances scheduled — the one Wednesday and a second Thursday, which was later canceled.
Michael Avenatti, Clifford’s lawyer, said he saw political machinations behind the arrest. “This was a setup & politically motivated,” he said on Twitter.
The charges against Clifford stemmed “from an allegation that while performing, she engaged in touching with customers who turned out to be undercover vice officers,” Avenatti said.
“So there are undercover vice officers that came to the club for the purpose of trying to get her to touch them so that they could then arrest her, which is ludicrous,” Avenatti said.
“I think that this is one of the poorest uses of law enforcement resources I believe I have ever heard of in my lifetime,” he added.