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15th October 2018, 06:23 PM
Judge dismisses Stormy Daniels' defamation suit against Trump, orders her to pay president's legal fees
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A federal judge on Monday dismissed the defamation lawsuit that Stormy Daniels filed against President Trump, saying his tweet attacking the porn star’s credibility was free speech protected by the Constitution.
“If this court were to prevent Mr. Trump from engaging in this type of ‘rhetorical hyperbole’ against a political adversary, it would significantly hamper the office of the president,” Judge S. James Otero of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles wrote in a 14-page ruling. “Any strongly-worded response by a president to another politician or public figure could constitute an action for defamation. This would deprive the country of the ‘discourse’ common to the political process.”
Otero’s ruling was a rare win for Trump in a seven-month legal battle with the adult film actress who says she had a one-night stand with him in 2006.
Otero ordered Daniels to pay Trump’s legal fees for his defense in the suit. The amount of the fees has not yet been determined, Trump lawyer Charles J. Harder said.
“No amount of spin or commentary by Stormy Daniels or her lawyer … can truthfully characterize today’s ruling in any way other than total victory for President Trump and total defeat for Stormy Daniels,” Harder said.
The dismissal of the defamation case has no bearing on Daniels’ continuing legal fight to void the nondisclosure pact that bars her from speaking publicly about her alleged affair with Trump.
Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, said she would appeal Otero’s ruling.
“There is something really rich in Trump relying on the 1st Amendment to justify defaming a woman,” he said by email.
Trump’s April 18 tweet came after Avenatti released a forensic artist’s sketch of a man whom Daniels said had threatened her in 2011 if she spoke publicly about her alleged affair with Trump. The president has denied having sex with her.
Daniels, 39, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says the man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot, glanced at her baby daughter and said it would be a shame “if something happened to her mom.”
“A sketch years later about a nonexistent man,” Trump tweeted. “A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!”
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874276197357596672/kUuht00m_normal.jpg (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986547093610299392)
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!
Shenna http://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f3f4-e0067-e0062-e0073-e0063-e0074-e007f.png#45@RealShennaFox
Replying to @realDonaldTrump
Oops! This is awkward! @StormyDaniels’s Ex https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f633.png#IDTheThug
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbDpOqbW0AAMCrN?format=jpg&name=small
6:08 AM - Apr 18, 2018 (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986547093610299392)
59.8K (https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=986547093610299392)
39K people are talking about this (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986547093610299392)
Twitter Ads info and privacy (https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256)
Daniels has posed a growing legal threat to the president since February, when a lawyer for Trump’s business empire launched a secret arbitration proceeding threatening her with millions of dollars in damages if she broke the October 2016 nondisclosure agreement negotiated by Michael Cohen, then Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer. Daniels was paid $130,000 to keep quiet.
When Cohen pleaded guilty in August to tax evasion, lying to a bank and violating campaign finance laws, one of his admitted crimes was making the secret hush-money payment to Daniels in an attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election. Cohen declared in court that Trump directed him to make the payment, and he is now reportedly cooperating with federal prosecutors.
In his ruling on Monday, Otero said Daniels was a public figure and “political adversary” of Trump whose lawsuit challenged the legitimacy of his presidency by alleging he “aggressively sought to silence” her to ensure he won the election.
“Trump issued the tweet as a rejoinder against an individual challenging him in the public arena,” Otero wrote. “This is the definition of protected rhetorical hyperbole.
Lots of stories on this, choose your favorite
A federal judge on Monday dismissed the defamation lawsuit that Stormy Daniels filed against President Trump, saying his tweet attacking the porn star’s credibility was free speech protected by the Constitution.
“If this court were to prevent Mr. Trump from engaging in this type of ‘rhetorical hyperbole’ against a political adversary, it would significantly hamper the office of the president,” Judge S. James Otero of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles wrote in a 14-page ruling. “Any strongly-worded response by a president to another politician or public figure could constitute an action for defamation. This would deprive the country of the ‘discourse’ common to the political process.”
Otero’s ruling was a rare win for Trump in a seven-month legal battle with the adult film actress who says she had a one-night stand with him in 2006.
Otero ordered Daniels to pay Trump’s legal fees for his defense in the suit. The amount of the fees has not yet been determined, Trump lawyer Charles J. Harder said.
“No amount of spin or commentary by Stormy Daniels or her lawyer … can truthfully characterize today’s ruling in any way other than total victory for President Trump and total defeat for Stormy Daniels,” Harder said.
The dismissal of the defamation case has no bearing on Daniels’ continuing legal fight to void the nondisclosure pact that bars her from speaking publicly about her alleged affair with Trump.
Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, said she would appeal Otero’s ruling.
“There is something really rich in Trump relying on the 1st Amendment to justify defaming a woman,” he said by email.
Trump’s April 18 tweet came after Avenatti released a forensic artist’s sketch of a man whom Daniels said had threatened her in 2011 if she spoke publicly about her alleged affair with Trump. The president has denied having sex with her.
Daniels, 39, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says the man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot, glanced at her baby daughter and said it would be a shame “if something happened to her mom.”
“A sketch years later about a nonexistent man,” Trump tweeted. “A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!”
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874276197357596672/kUuht00m_normal.jpg (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump)
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986547093610299392)
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!
Shenna http://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f3f4-e0067-e0062-e0073-e0063-e0074-e007f.png#45@RealShennaFox
Replying to @realDonaldTrump
Oops! This is awkward! @StormyDaniels’s Ex https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f633.png#IDTheThug
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbDpOqbW0AAMCrN?format=jpg&name=small
6:08 AM - Apr 18, 2018 (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986547093610299392)
59.8K (https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=986547093610299392)
39K people are talking about this (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986547093610299392)
Twitter Ads info and privacy (https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256)
Daniels has posed a growing legal threat to the president since February, when a lawyer for Trump’s business empire launched a secret arbitration proceeding threatening her with millions of dollars in damages if she broke the October 2016 nondisclosure agreement negotiated by Michael Cohen, then Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer. Daniels was paid $130,000 to keep quiet.
When Cohen pleaded guilty in August to tax evasion, lying to a bank and violating campaign finance laws, one of his admitted crimes was making the secret hush-money payment to Daniels in an attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election. Cohen declared in court that Trump directed him to make the payment, and he is now reportedly cooperating with federal prosecutors.
In his ruling on Monday, Otero said Daniels was a public figure and “political adversary” of Trump whose lawsuit challenged the legitimacy of his presidency by alleging he “aggressively sought to silence” her to ensure he won the election.
“Trump issued the tweet as a rejoinder against an individual challenging him in the public arena,” Otero wrote. “This is the definition of protected rhetorical hyperbole.