Michael Avenatti, the lawyer representing adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump, was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence on Wednesday, according to Los Angeles police.
Bail was set at $50,000, according to the LAPD.
Avenatti denied the allegations in a statement to The Hill.
{mosads}”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,” he said in the statement released by his office. “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.”
After he was released on bail Wednesday night, Avenatti again denied the allegations, stating that he would not be “intimidated” from advocating for women’s rights.
“I have never struck a woman. I never will strike a woman,” Avenatti told reporters according to video posted by KABC. “I have been an advocate for women’s rights my entire career and I’m going to continue to be an advocate. “I’m not going to be intimidated from stopping what I’m doing.”
“I am looking forward to a full investigation at which point I am confident that I will be fully exonerated,” he added.
An attorney for Avenatti’s wife told BuzzFeed News in a statement that she did not make the alleged report. TMZ reported that a woman, originally identified as Avenatti’s estranged wife, filed a report with the LAPD after an alleged incident on Tuesday.
“My client and I have reviewed the TMZ article alleging that my client, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, has been injured and that Michael Avenatti has been arrested as a result of some incident that occurred between them. This article is not true as it pertains to my client,” the statement to BuzzFeed read.
“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,” the statement added. “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.”
Avenatti’s first wife, Christine Avenatti Carlin, also tweeted about the allegations, writing that her ex-husband had never been abusive to her “or anyone else.”
“I have known @MichaelAvenatti for over 26 years we met when he was 21 years old and we were married for 13 years. Michael has ALWAYS been a kind loving father to our two daughters and husband to me. He has NEVER been abusive to me or anyone else. He is a good man,” she wrote on Twitter.
Avenatti has floated challenging the president in 2020. An arrest on such a charge could derail his aspirations for launching a presidential bid.
The Vermont Democrats on Friday canceled the two events they planned to hold with Avenatti this weekend and will refund ticket holders, the party’s communication’s director told The Hill.
“It has been widely reported by ABC News and other outlets that Michael Avenatti has been arrested in Los Angeles, California on charges of suspected felony domestic violence,” R. Christopher Di Mezzo said in a statement.
“We have not heard from his people, but while there is some kind of arrest and investigation to ensue, we’re not going to step into that arena with him,” Di Mezzo told the Burlington Free Press.
Avenatti is facing other hurdles, including investigation into his actions during the confirmation battle over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) first referred Avenatti to the Justice Department for a potential criminal investigation into whether or not he and his client, Julie Swetnick, made false statements to Congress about Kavanaugh.
The next day Grassley referred the lawyer a second time, saying that an NBC report led him to believe that Swetnick consistently denied “the key allegations Mr. Avenatti attributed to her.”
“She stated she was clear and consistent ‘from day one’ with Mr. Avenatti that those claims were not true,” Grassley wrote. “And she said Mr. Avenatti ‘twisted [her] words.’ “
— Updated 10:21 p.m.