Ohio police officers fired over 2018 arrest of Stormy Daniels

Two Ohio police officers were fired this week over their roles in arresting Stormy Daniels at a Columbus strip club in 2018, according to The New York Times.

The officers had previously been “departmentally charged” over the arrest, which the Columbus police department said broke its rules of conduct.

Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, was arrested in July 2018 during a performance at the Sirens Gentlemen’s Club on three counts of illegally touching a patron. The charges were dropped almost immediately.

Daniels then filed a federal civil lawsuit against the officers alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy. The city later settled that lawsuit for $450,000.

Daniels and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, accused the police officers of political motives in the arrest. Daniels has alleged an affair with President Trump in 2006. The president has denied the affair.

Five officers were implicated in the incident, including a commander, a lieutenant, a sergeant and two arresting officers. Two officers, Steven Rosser and Whitney Lancaster, were fired on Thursday. Two other officers, Lt. Ronald Kemmerling and Sgt. Scott Soha, were suspended for 240 hours and 120 hours, respectively, according to the Times. The four officers plan to appeal, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

“The strategy to arrest Stormy Daniels in Columbus was devoid of any genuine law enforcement purpose and instead was planned to garner publicity for the public takedown and humiliation of Stormy,” Daniels’s current lawyer, Clark O. Brewster, told the Times.

“True to her character, she didn’t shy away from standing her ground, exposing the wrongfulness of a conspiracy of dunces, and then holding the wrongdoers accountable in a federal lawsuit,” he said.