Michael Avenatti, who is in the midst of a contested divorce, has campaigned across 20 states since July. | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images Legal Avenatti arrested in domestic violence case

Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti was arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles and booked on a felony domestic violence charge, Los Angeles police confirmed.

Avenatti, an anti-Trump fixture on the cable news circuit who is exploring a 2020 run for president, was arrested at 2:05 p.m. on the 10000 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, police said.


The attorney held a brief news conference late Wednesday after he was released from jail.

"I have never struck a woman. I never will strike a woman. I’ve been an advocate for women’s rights my entire career and I’m going to continue to be an advocate,” Avenatti told reporters. “I’m not going to be intimidated from stopping what I am doing.”

Avenatti welcomed an investigation, saying he expected to be “fully exonerated.”

Earlier, Tony Im, a public information officer for the Los Angeles Police Department, said Avenatti was booked on a charge of felony domestic violence with injuries. Avenatti’s bail was set at $50,000. Police wouldn’t provide more details of the incident.

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The explosive development comes as Avenatti has spent months laying a foundation for a White House bid, and as the brash, in-your-face attorney threatened or brought legal action against the Trump administration on multiple fronts.

Before his release from jail, Avenatti released a statement through his law office denying all abuse allegations.

“I wish to thank the hard working men and woman of the LAPD for their professionalism they were only doing their jobs in light of the completely bogus allegations against me,” he said. “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.”

The Los Angeles Times reported the allegations were made by a woman who had “visible injuries.”

With Avenatti still in police custody, both his ex-wife and his estranged wife released separate statements through Avenatti’s law firm.

“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,” an attorney for Lisa Storie-Avenatti said in a statement. “My client requests that the media respect her privacy and that of the parties’ young son.”

“I’ve known Michael for the last 26 years, we met when he was 21 years old and we were married for 13 years,” said Christine Avenatti-Carlin in a statement. “Michael has always been a loving, kind father to our two daughters and husband. He has never been abusive to me or anyone else. He is a very good man.”

Avenatti, who is in the midst of a contested divorce from Lisa Storie-Avenatti, has campaigned across 20 states since July, speaking to large crowds and selling out fundraising dinners, including in Iowa. Avenatti has attempted to position himself as the Democrats’ answer to Donald Trump, calling on the Democratic field to “hit harder” against the president.

On Saturday, Avenatti revealed he represented a man who was seeking to bring charges against Fox News host Tucker Carlson after an incident in a Virginia restaurant.

Since Avenatti began ramping up his 2020 ambitions, he’s faced various controversies, from getting into verbal scrums with Donald Trump Jr. over Twitter to facing a backlash over comments he made, according to Time, that the person to run against Trump “better be a white male.” Avenatti said he was taken out of context, saying: “It’s a f------ outrage.” Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee referred Avenatti and his client Julie Swetnick to the Justice Department for an investigation into false statements after she leveled sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, then a Supreme Court nominee.

Avenatti also faced his share of troubles in civil court. As part of their divorce case, his second wife sought $215,643 a month in family support. And in October, a Los Angeles judge issued an order saying Avenatti must pay $4.85 million to a former law colleague who claimed he was owed millions of dollars in profit.

At the time, Avenatti told POLITICO there was nothing in his past that would rule out a potential run for president. He even launched a political PAC and released his first ad.

“There’s all kinds of things I would not have done. Do I think any of them are disqualifying? No. Do I think any of them are disqualifying in the age of Donald Trump? Absolutely not,” he said. “But look, I’m a real guy. I’m a genuine guy. But if I decide to do it and some of these things come out, I’m going to own them.”

