UPDATE 1:40 PM EST: Avenatti’s most famous client has now weighed in on his arrest.
See Stormy Daniels‘ official statement, in which she promises to fire her attorney “if these allegations prove true”:
NEW: Statement from Stormy Daniels regarding Michael Avenatti @NYMag pic.twitter.com/p1dUgCN9tr
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) November 15, 2018
UPDATE 8:23 PM EST: Buzzfeed News reports they’ve obtained a statement from Avenatti’s law office in which he denies the claims. The statement reads: “I wish to thank the hard working men and woman of the LAPD for their professionalism they were only doing their jobs in light of the completely bogus allegations against me. I have never been physically abusive in my life nor was I last night. Any accusations to the contrary are fabricated and meant to do harm to my reputation. I look forward to being fully exonerated.”
UPDATE 7:35 PM EST: TMZ has now changed its story, saying their initial sources were wrong about the identity of the woman.
They’re now saying it was not his estranged wife but someone else.
In fact, Avenatti’s ex, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, released a statement through her lawyer saying:
“Ms. Storie-Avenatti was not subject to any such incident on Tuesday night. Further, she was not at Mr. Avenatti’s apartment on the date that this alleged incident occurred. My client states that there has never been domestic violence in her relationship with Michael and that she has never known Michael to be physically violent toward anyone. My client requests that the media respect her privacy and that of the parties young son.”
We’ll have to see what other details hold. But the LAPD has confirmed the arrest:
We can confirm that today LAPD Detectives arrested Michael Avenatti on suspicion of domestic violence. This is an ongoing investigation and we will provide more details as they become available.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) November 15, 2018
Meanwhile, the Vermont Democratic Party has already announced the cancelation of events at which Avenatti was scheduled to speak this weekend.
__________
Over the past few months Michael Avenatti has emerged as someone standing up for women who were abused by powerful men.
But today Stormy Daniels‘ lawyer is not looking so hot.
According to multiple news sources the attorney was taken into police custody on Wednesday following an allegation of felony domestic violence by an unknown woman.
Related: Feds Have Evidence Trump Paid Stormy & Others Hush Money
TMZ law enforcement sources say the incident began Tuesday night when Avenatti “kicked her out of the apartment” — and that’s when the alleged violence occurred.
Apparently she returned on Wednesday to collect her belongings, and this time called the police.
The outlet reports being told a woman was seen running out of the building, yelling into her phone:
“I can’t believe you did this to me. I’m going to get a restraining order against you.”
After she was escorted upstairs by security, Avenatti arrived and tried to get into the building — but was denied access to the elevator by security.
He was quoted as yelling:
“She hit me first.”
and
“This is f**king bulls**t!”
Reportedly, that’s when police showed up and spoke with Avenatti in private for 5-10 minutes before taking him into custody.
TMZ reports witnesses saying she kept her sunglasses on, but her face was “swollen and bruised” when she filed the felony complaint.
Just awful.
Needless to say, this does not look good for his chances as a potential presidential candidate.
Yes, Kavanaugh got through to the Supreme Court, and our current Commander-In-Chief was accused by his ex-wife of rape in a legal proceeding. But so far only Republicans have excused such bad behavior against women.
We can probably say definitively this is the end of Avenatti’s political aspirations.
[Image via CBS/WENN.]
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