Former US President Donald Trump has won a legal victory as Stormy Daniels loses Defamation Case against him. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in California ordered Ms. Daniels to pay more than $121,000 to Trump’s lawyers. Ms. Daniels had lost a defamation suit against him.
The adult film star has already paid over $500,000 in court-ordered payments to Trump’s attorneys.
She had filed and lost a defamation suit against the former president.
The order was issued on the same day that Trump was arraigned in Manhattan on 34 charges related to alleged hush money payments to Daniels to cover up an alleged affair between the two, according to CNN.
Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the alleged payments. It’s the first time a former US president has faced criminal charges.
Also read: In pictures: Donald Trump formally arrested on criminal charges
Trump attorney Harmeet Dhillon of the Dhillon Law Group took to Twitter and shared a copy of the order. She wrote, “Congratulations to President Trump on this final attorney fee victory in his favor this morning.”
Stormy Daniels loses Defamation Case against Donald Trump.
The civil case is unrelated to Trump’s arrest and charges in New York, but both involve Daniels, who was paid USD 130,000 in hush money during the 2016 presidential campaign to keep quiet about an affair. CNN reported that Trump denies the affair.
Daniels filed a lawsuit against Trump in 2018 after Trump called an allegation by Daniels that an unknown man threatened her in a parking lot to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump a “total con job” in a tweet.
According to CNN, in dismissing the lawsuit in October 2018, federal Judge S James Otero stated that Trump’s statement was protected by the First Amendment.
Dismissing the lawsuit in October 2018, federal Judge S James Otero said Trump’s statement was protected by the First Amendment, reported CNN.
“The Court agrees with Mr. Trump’s argument because the tweet in question constitutes ‘rhetorical hyperbole’ normally associated with politics and public discourse in the United States. The First Amendment protects this type of rhetorical statement,” Otero wrote at the time.
Otero later ordered Daniels to pay roughly USD 293,000 in legal fees. Daniels was also ordered to pay another USD 245,000 in fees after losing another appeal, reported CNN.
Ms. Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, had asked the appeals court to knock down another award. The court declined her request.
“Clifford’s argument that the fee request is unreasonable and excessive is not well-founded,” the 9th Circuit filing states.
“Trump‘s attorneys reasonably spent the requested 183.35 hours preparing a motion to dismiss, a reply to the opposition to the motion, two extension motions, the answering brief, and the fee application,” it added.
In March 2022, Daniels said she would “go to jail” before paying a penny to Trump after a failed defamation suit filed by Daniels’ former lawyer, Michael Avenatti.
Also read: Who is Stormy Daniels – the pornographic star who got Trump indicted?
