This doesn’t prove that the July 12th arrest was an act of revenge by a few pro-Trump cops but it does seem to prove that the police’s initial explanation for hauling her in was a big fat lie. Initially they claimed that Daniels was arrested during a local strip-club appearance “as part of a long-term investigation into allegations of human trafficking, prostitution, [and] other vice related violations.” That made it sound like the police had that particular strip club staked out for reasons unrelated to her being there and just so happened to observe her touching patrons during her performance in violation of state law.

According to emails provided to the Fayette Advocate by a police source, though, at least one detective on the scene seems to have gone to the club with Daniels in her crosshairs.

Inside the emails are news clippings discussing Daniels’ planned appearance in Columbus, pictures of Daniels with President Donald Trump, videos of her dancing, and even a map to the club where she would be performing, all sent days before she would pull into town on her tour bus.

The bulk of the emails that the whistleblower provided are from the email account of Detective Shana Keckley. Keckley was one of the lead-arresting officers the night that the “sting” operation went down…

After Daniels’ arrest that Wednesday night, the emails continue into the early morning hours of Thursday, but the contents are disturbing.

“I got the elements….we arrested Stormy this morning, she is in jail.” “Elements” are the burden police officers must meet in order to make an arrest.

In another email dated on July 12 at 3:50 a.m., Keckley writes to another police officer bragging about Daniel’s arrest — without mentioning her by name — saying, “You’re Welcome!!!!!….Thank me in person later.”

Why would the officer whom Keckley emailed after the arrest have wanted to thank her for busting Stormy? Was she in the crosshairs of other cops too, and if so, why? Ed wondered the day of the arrest whether Daniels had been “set up.” Do we have our answer?

Team Stormy is angry, of course:

This is extremely disturbing. I intend on getting to truth and the bottom of who ordered @StormyDaniels arrested and why. It appears that I was correct when I stated it was politically motivated. #Basta https://t.co/Y95E5bxNG4

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 25, 2018

Well, hold on. That this was a sting aimed specifically at Daniels seems clear. That it was politically motivated isn’t as clear, although it’s the likeliest explanation given her prominence as a Trump enemy. I’ll give you an alternate theory, though, which I first floated in a separate post the day of the arrest: Maybe PD was looking to send a zero-tolerance message to strip clubs in the area about performers and patrons getting handsy with each other and saw Stormy’s visit as an easy way to send that message. Bust the most famous stripper in America for touching the customers and every strip club in town will enforce the hands-off rule more diligently going forward.

Or, if you prefer something more lowbrow yet still apolitical, maybe the vice squad viewed this as nothing more or less than a plum opportunity to put itself on the map. They wanted to see their names in the paper, they knew arresting Stormy would do that for them, so they did it. Had nothing to do with Trump.

But if you prefer that theory, you’re left explaining why Keckley emailed herself photos of Daniels with Trump. If avenging Trump wasn’t part of this, why was his relationship with Daniels evidently on Keckley’s mind?

The Advocate claims that the mayor’s office has copies of the emails and is furious. If it turns out that the cops really were a bunch of Trumpers looking to punish Stormy for making the president’s life difficult, expect a lot of chin-pulling this week about all the times Trump has wink-wink-nudge-nudged military and law enforcement to be a little rougher with the bad guys than they need to be. You don’t need the man in charge to order wrongdoing (not that he could order state cops to do anything anyway) to acculturate them to the idea that wrongdoing isn’t always wrong. Here’s video of Daniels’s arrest via Inside Edition.