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Charges dismissed against Stormy Daniels hours after arrest at Ohio strip club

Charges made against Stormy Daniels in her early morning arrest on Thursday were dismissed later in the afternoon, according to her lawyer Michael Avenatti.

Avenatti wrote on Twitter that the charges made against Daniels “have been dismissed in their entirety,” sharing a copy of the motion. 

Daniels, an adult-film star, was arrested during a performance at a Columbus, Ohio, strip club.

She was originally charged on three counts of illegally touching a patron.

A 2007 Ohio law states that an employee who regularly appears nude or seminude at a sexually oriented business is not allowed to touch anyone not related to them while nude or seminude. 

The Columbus Police Department said in a statement that Daniels was one of three women arrested at the club.

The arrests were reportedly made as part of a long-term investigation into allegations of human trafficking, prostitution and other “vice related” violations, police said.

Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, was charged after allegedly touching three different undercover vice detectives at the Sirens Gentlemen’s Club.

CNN affiliate WSYX obtained the probable cause affidavit for Daniels’s arrest which alleged that she removed her top and forced patrons’ face into her chest. 

“The officers also observed Ms. Clifford fondling the breasts of female patrons,” Franklin County Municipal Court records show.

Avenatti thanked Columbus deputy chief prosecutor Joseph Gibson for dismissing the charges and praised their professionalism.

He previously blasted the arrest as “a setup” that was “political motivated.”

Daniels has been performing at strip clubs across the country, Avenatti also noted.

She made headlines earlier this year when news broke that she had allegedly had a sexual encounter with President Trump in 2006. The president has denied the affair.

Trump’s longtime former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, arranged a nondisclosure agreement shortly before the 2016 presidential election and paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about the alleged sexual encounter. 

Trump admitted in May that he reimbursed Cohen for the payment, although he said at the time he did not know what it was for.

Daniels later filed lawsuits against both Cohen and Trump for defamation.

Updated at 1:17 p.m.