Charges Against Stormy Daniels Dropped Hours After Strip Club Arrest
Stormy Daniels will not face any criminal charges after all following an early-morning arrest Thursday after her performance at an Ohio strip club.
As The Palm Beach Post reports, Stormy (real name: Stephanie Marie Clifford) had been performing at Siren’s Gentleman’s Club in Columbus, Ohio, early Thursday morning when the cops showed up. She and two other performers, identified as Miranda Panda and Brittany Walters, were also arrested. It is not clear if “Miranda Panda” and “Brittany Walters” are the performers’ real names or stage names. All three were accused of illegal sexual-oriented activity in a sexually-oriented business, a misdemeanor in Ohio.
However, in a statement, Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said that he was dropping the charges “based on the fact that Ms. Clifford has not made regular appearances at this establishment as required under the law.” It seems she may have been able to evade charges on a technicality, however.
According to Ohio law, a nude or semi-nude performer at a sexually-oriented business, such as a strip club, may not touch or be touched by anyone who is not a close relative. However, the way the law is written, it only applies to “regular performers.” Since Stormy was a guest performer at Siren’s and not a regular performer, she was able to avoid charges.
I just knew our stripper poll would have come fom Sirens in Columbus, OH today. #FreeStormy pic.twitter.com/vSe83PRVvA
— Gregory Jon (@gregoryjon) July 12, 2018
Columbus police had been running an undercover sting operation at Sirens, an operation they claim was unrelated to her. She allegedly inappropriately touched undercover officers.
As of this writing, it remains unclear if the two other performers, Ms. Waters and Ms. Panda, will be charged or will have the charges against them dropped.
Public records reveal two other performers were arrested in addition to Daniels, Miranda Panda and Brittany Walters. They face similar charges. https://t.co/YySrdTedHf #StormyDaniels pic.twitter.com/oRmttEoeJ5
— WSYX ABC 6 (@wsyx6) July 12, 2018
Daniels was scheduled to perform for two nights at Sirens. However, in a statement, Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, said that his client’s second scheduled performance has been canceled due to the arrest.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, at the time of Stormy’s arrest, Avenatti claimed her arrest was “politically motivated.”
“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.”
Stormy Daniels is at the center of a controversy surrounding Donald Trump. She claims that in 2006, the two had an affair and that she was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about it by Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen in 2016. Trump has admitted the payment but has denied the affair.
