Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing porn star Stormy Daniels in her legal battle with President Trump, was arrested on a domestic violence charge, a representative for the Los Angeles Police Department told TheWrap.
According to the police spokesperson, a report was filed Tuesday, while the arrest occurred Wednesday.
In a tweet Wednesday, the LAPD confirmed Avenatti’s arrest, adding, “This is an ongoing investigation and we will provide more details as they become available.”
We can confirm that today LAPD Detectives arrested Michael Avenatti on suspicion of domestic violence. This is an ongoing investigation and we will provide more details as they become available.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) November 15, 2018
While the LAPD spokesperson was unable to provide further detail on the arrest, TMZ initially reported that Avenatti’s estranged wife filed the report, a report that the outlet later corrected.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, an attorney for Avenatti’s wife refuted TMZ’s report that she was involved in the alleged incident.
“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 attorney said. “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. 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.”
TMZ later updated its story, noting, “We were initially told by our sources the alleged victim was Avenatti’s estranged wife. We now know it was not. The incident involved a different woman.”
Citing sources, TMZ reported of the incident, “We’re told [the woman’s] face was ‘swollen and bruised’ with ‘red marks’ on both cheeks.”
TMZ further reported that the alleged incident occurred on Tuesday, but a confrontation occurred between Avenatti and the woman “at an exclusive apartment building” in Century City.
During the alleged confrontation, TMZ said that the woman ran from the building and was “on her cellphone with sunglasses covering her eyes, screaming on the phone, ‘I can’t believe you did this to me.’”
Citing a law enforcement source, TMZ said that Avenatti kicked the woman out of the apartment on Tuesday, but she showed up Wednesday to retrieve her things, alerting police to stand by in case an incident occurred.
According to TMZ, Avenatti arrived five minutes after her and “ran into the building, chasing after her.” The site added that Avenatti repeatedly yelled, ‘She hit me first’ and reportedly added, ‘This is bulls—, this is f—ing bulls—t.’”
TheWrap has reached out to Avenatti for comment.
Avenatti is representing Daniels in a lawsuit she filed regarding the 2016 non-disclosure agreement that was negotiated in the weeks before the presidential election, in which Daniels was paid $130,000.
He also represented Daniels in a defamation lawsuit filed against Trump, which was tossed by a judge in October.