5 Ohio police officers facing disciplinary action over 2018 strip club raid that resulted in Stormy Daniels's arrest

Adult film stars not only make money from adult films — they also make money with everything from merchandising to appearances in strip clubs like Columbus, Ohio’s Sirens, where Stephanie Clifford, a.k.a. Stormy Daniels, was arrested in July 2018 on suspicion of inappropriately touching an undercover police officer. And five Columbus police officers who were involved in that raid are now facing disciplinary action, the Guardian is reporting.

The five officers range from a commander, a lieutenant and a sergeant to two of the arresting officers. And the Columbus Police Department announced on Wednesday that the punishments could range from a reprimand to a dismissal.

Those who were critical of Daniels’ arrest have alleged that some of the officers were politically motivated and targeted the adult film star because they viewed her as an adversary of someone they supported: President Donald Trump. But an investigation of the raid at Sirens found that although it was improperly handled, it was not politically motivated.

Daniels has alleged that she had an extramarital affair with Trump and that Michael Cohen (Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer) paid her hush money to keep quiet. And Cohen, who is presently serving a three-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges ranging from campaign finance violations to tax and bank fraud, has testified before Congress that he was acting on direct orders from Trump when he paid hush money to Daniels. Trump, however, has continued to deny having an affair with Daniels.