Stephanie Clifford has been in the news a lot since before President Trump even assumed the highest office of our country. Recently the spotlight rested upon her once again, though this time it wasn’t because she decided to throw another claim against the president. Earlier this month, Clifford, an “adult-movie star known as Stormy Daniels,” was ordered by a judge to “pay $292,000 in attorney fees and $1,000 in sanctions to Donald Trump after she unsuccessfully sued the president for defamation.”
Stephanie Clifford has been in the news a lot since before President Trump even assumed the highest office of our country. Recently the spotlight fell upon her once again, though this time it wasn’t because she decided to throw another accusation against the president. Earlier this month, Clifford, an “adult-movie star known as Stormy Daniels,” was ordered by a judge to “pay $292,000 in attorney fees and $1,000 in sanctions to Donald Trump after she unsuccessfully sued the president for defamation.”
During the legal battle, Trump’s lawyer sought “389,000 in fees for defending the lawsuit and for an equal amount in sanctions to deter Clifford from filing ‘frivolous’ claims.” On Tuesday, a federal judge in Los Angeles sided with President Trump’s team, though awarded him “25 percent less than what he requested for his lawyer and said steep sanctions aren’t necessary on top of the ‘substantial’ fee award.”
When commenting of the judge’s award announcement, Michael Avenatti, Clifford’s lawyer, said, “They received less than one half what they asked for because the request was gross and excessive.” Avenatti added:
“Stormy will never have to pay a dime of the money awarded to Trump Tuesday, because they owe her over $1 million in attorneys’ fees and costs from the NDA case, especially in light of Cohen’s guilty plea.”
What kind of defamation claims did Clifford make against the president, though? Well, for those who don’t know, earlier this year she claimed she was approached and “threatened by an unknown man in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011 for agreeing to cooperate with a magazine article about a tryst she says she had with Trump in 2006.” Shortly after her claim, Avenatti “released a composite sketch of the man,” prompting Trump to accuse Clifford of partaking in “a total con job concerning a nonexistent man.”
While announcing his ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Otero said Trump’s ‘defaming’ tweet was protected free speech, which was a big reason why he tossed out Clifford’s defamation suit in November. Otero also noted that “deterrence seems to be working because Clifford is trying to withdraw another defamation claim pending in his court and she hasn’t taken further legal action against Trump, despite rhetorically hyperbolic statements he’s made about her recently.”
In addition to the case that was recently tossed by Otero, Clifford has a case in Los Angeles that is pending. In that case, she is challenging the “non-disclosure agreement she signed with Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen to prevent her from discussing the alleged affair.” In response to that particular case, both Cohen and Trump have said “they won’t enforce that agreement and that the case should be thrown out as moot.”
Sources:
Stormy Daniels Is Ordered to Pay Trump $293,000 in Fees and Sanctions
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