Stormy Daniels Arrest Leads to Columbus Police Vice Shutdown

COLUMBUS, OHIO—Stormy Daniels was arrested during a performance at a strip club in Columbus, Ohio, on July 11 for supposedly violating a law that prohibited nude performers from touching audience members. But the charges were dismissed less than 24 hours after Daniels’ arrest, and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, accused police of a “setup” and charged that they were “politically motivated” in their bust of the AVN Hall of Famer. Now, almost two months later, the Columbus Police Department has appeared to acknowledge that there may have been substance to Avenatti’s allegation by temporarily shutting down the departments’ vice unit—the unit responsible for the Daniels arrest—on a temporary basis while police authorities conduct a “comprehensive review” of the vice cops’ activities, according to USA Today.  Two days after the arrest, Avenatti uncovered and posted on his Twitter account several posts by Columbus Vice Detective Steve Rosser that showed the vice cop to be a Donald Trump supporter. Daniels, of course, has filed two high-profile lawsuits against Trump, one seeking to be released from a “hush” agreement she signed over a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, and the other for defamation over dismissive comments made by Trump calling Daniels claim to have been physically threatened a “con job.” About two weeks after Avenatti revealed Rosser’s social media posts, a local news site, The Fayette Advocate, uncovered emails by an officer involved in the Daniels arrest. The emails appeared to show police celebrating the Daniels arrest. “I got the elements … we arrested Stormy this morning, she is in jail,” Columbus vice cop Shana Keckley wrote in one of the emails. In another email Keckley appeared excited that the arrest of Daniels was “all over CNN,” and she told another cop, “You’re Welcome!!!!! … Thank me in person later.” There are 20 officers in the Columbus vice squad. In addition to the Daniels arrest, the temporary shutdown and review of the unit was prompted by an August police shooting in which a vice officer fatally wounded a woman during a prostitution “sting” operation, according to the city’s National Public Radio station, WCBE. Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs said that she is aiming to uncover “bad cops” in the vice unit, according to Cincinnati.com. "We do not tolerate bad cops here," the chief said. Photo by Michael Snipes / Wikimedia Commons