Michael Avenatti, the lawyer representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels, has reportedly been arrested for felony domestic violence.
According to TMZ, sources say the 47-year-old was taken into custody Wednesday after his estranged wife, Lisa-Storie Avenatti, filed a report with Los Angeles police. The alleged incident occurred Tuesday; however, insiders claim the two had a second confrontation at at an apartment building in the L.A. area. Lisa-Storie was allegedly seen outside the complex screaming on the phone: "I can't believe you did this to me."
Moments later, security took the women inside. Avenatti reportedly arrived at the apartments shortly after; sources said he began "chasing" her while shouting, "She hit me first [...] This is bulls***, this is f***ing bulls***."
"A report for domestic violence was taken yesterday and an individual has been arrested for that report today and he is in the process of being booked," a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told The Hill; however, the department declined to confirm the individual was Avenatti.
A statement from Avenatti's office was later released:
New statement from @MichaelAvenatti via his law 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.” pic.twitter.com/f2fnThdt7O
The outspoken lawyer is defending Daniels—legal name Stephanie Clifford—in her ongoing legal battle against POTUS. Daniels claims she had sexual relations with Trump back in 2006, and that his personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 in hush money. Trump has denied the affair.
Daniels has since sued the president over a nondisclosure agreement intended to conceal their alleged relationship.
Avenatti has become a cable news fixture over the past year and has openly explored the idea of running against Trump in 2020. In an October interview with Time magazine, the lawyer argued that if the Democratic Party wanted to defeat Trump in the next election, they should chose a white man as their candidate.
"I think it better be a white male," he said. "When you have a white male making the arguments, they carry more weight. Should they carry more weight? Absolutely not. But do they? Yes."
Keep it locked as more information about Avenatti's alleged arrest becomes available.
This post was updated at 7:44 p.m. ET to include a statement from Avenatti's law office.
