A whistleblower inside the Columbus, Ohio Police Department forwarded a series of smoking-gun emails between high-ranking Columbus police detectives and vice officers that reveal Stormy Daniels arrest for allowing undercover vice squad members to touch her in a strip club was premeditated.

From The Cut:

Emails from Detective Shana Keckley (show here), one of the lead arresting officers on July 12, indicate that law enforcement had shown up specifically to target Daniels — which runs contrary to the police department's previous claim that Daniels had simply gotten caught up into an investigation into potential human trafficking and prostitution at the strip club. Days before the "sting" operation, the emails show Detective Keckley sent herself multiple news stories, videos, and photographs of Daniels. Even more damningly, in an email she sent after Daniels was charged, Keckley wrote, "I got the elements …. we arrested Stormy this morning, she is in jail." (Per the Advocate, elements are "the burden police officers must meet in order to make an arrest.") In another email, she told officers to thank her "in person" for her achievement. "It is clear that Keckley and her fellow officers were there because of Stormy and only because of Stormy," the whistle-blower told the Advocate. "The emails definitely show that the police lied about it being a prostitution and human trafficking mission."

From The Fayette Advocate:

Daniels' personal attorney Michael Avenatti told the Advocate on Wednesday that these emails are not going away. "These emails are very disturbing," Avenatti said by phone while in Los Angeles. "We will get to the bottom of this one way or the other." The Advocate reached out to Columbus Police media liaison Denise Alex-Bouzounis inquiring about the emails, but calls were not returned. The CPD Twitter account sent a regurgitated statement from several weeks ago where the chief of police apologized for the arrest and said she would investigate its motivations. The whistleblower says that Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther's office has the emails in their possession and that Ginther's team is "furious." "Mayor Ginther's office is pissed that people are critical of the police over this."

The charges against Daniels were dropped shortly after she was arrested.

From TMZ:

Columbus PD chief Kim Jacobs said cops screwed up the arrest because the law that prohibits performers touching patrons only applies to dancers who perform regularly at the club. Stormy was a guest performer. The chief also said it launched an internal investigation to determine if the officers' motives were improper. Stormy's attorney, Michael Avenatti, also weighed in on the discovery of the emails.