Michael Avenatti arrested on suspicion of domestic violence



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Jeff Lee, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, said the report on domestic violence was recorded Tuesday in West Los Angeles and stopped Wednesday.

"We can confirm that today, LAPD detectives have arrested Michael Avenatti for suspicion of domestic violence.The investigation is ongoing and we will provide more details as they will be available, "announced the LAPD Twitter account on Wednesday.

"I want to thank the hard-working men and women of the LAPD for their professionalism, they were doing their job only in the light of the completely false allegations against me," he said. "I have never been a victim of physical violence in my life or last night.All the contrary accusations are fabricated and supposed to harm my reputation.I'm looking forward to being fully exonerated."

Avenatti paid $ 50,000 bail and left police custody on Wednesday night. He told reporters who were waiting in front of the station, "I have never hit a woman, I will never hit a woman."

"I am convinced that I will be fully exonerated," he added.

The alleged domestic assault incident was reported for the first time by TMZ.

Avenatti emerged this year as the usual antagonist of President Donald Trump, beginning by legally representing Stormy Daniels and his frequent appearances in the media. For months, he has publicly flirted with a potential bid for the Democratic presidential nomination to challenge Trump in 2020.

The alleged domestic violence incident could jeopardize Avenatti's prospects as a potential insurgent Democrat candidate and run up against the image that he has portrayed as a defender of women, including Daniels in his clash with Trump and accuser of recent judge Brett Kavanaugh.

The Vermont Democratic Party has canceled the Avenatt appearances Friday and Saturday after his arrest, and he will reimburse all ticket sales, said Christopher Di Mezzo, the party's director of communications.

The decision to cancel the events was taken "almost immediately after the announcement of the news," he said.

The allegation would also mark another legal problem for the California lawyer, whose firm settled a case with the IRS in July and who was sentenced last month to pay a multi-million dollar judgment on his debt to a former law partner.
Following Julie Swetnick's representation for her allegations against Kavanaugh, Senate Judiciary Speaker Chuck Grassley said in October that he was referring Avenatti and Swetnick to the Department of Justice. Avenatti stated at the time that the reference was "unfounded". Several Democrats said following Kavanaugh's confirmation that the involvement of Avenatti and Swetnick had hampered their efforts to prevent Kavanaugh's confirmation – a charge denied by Avenatti.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

CNN's Bonney Kapp contributed to this report.

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