The Vermont Democratic Party has canceled multiple events set to feature celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti after his arrest for alleged domestic violence.
“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,” the party’s Communication’s Director R. Christopher Di Mezzo told The Hill in a statement.
“The Vermont Democratic Party has cancelled Mr. Avenatti’s forthcoming scheduled appearances in Vermont, and will be refunding all ticket sales.”
{mosads}He added that the party has not heard from Avenatti’s team, but that it was going off of reports from ABC, The Washington Times, and NBC News. The Los Angeles Police Department later confirmed the arrest.
Avenatti denied the allegations in a statement.
“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. “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.”
His ex-wife, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, has denied via her lawyer that she was the victim of the alleged domestic violence.
“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,” her statement added.
Avenatti had signaled that he might make a run at the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. and an arrest on a domestic violence charge could end that aspiration.
He is facing other hurdles, including potential criminal investigations into his conduct during the confirmation battle over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.