Former President Donald J. Trump secured another legal victory over Stormy Daniels on Tuesday, with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reportedly ordering the pornographic actress to cover an additional $121,972.56 of his legal fees incurred during her failed defamation lawsuit.
While the former President was in New York City to be arrested over 34 counts of falsifying business records over his alleged hush payments to Stormy Daniels, Mr. Trump won another legal victory over the porn star on the other side of the country.
According to a post on social media from Trump attorney, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Los Angeles ruled that Daniels must reimburse Mr. Trump another $121,972.56 in legal expenses for a failed defamation lawsuit she brought against then-President Trump in 2018.
“Under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code $ 27.009(a)(1), attorneys’ fees in the amount of $121,972.56 are awarded in favor of appellee Donald J. Trump and against appellant Stephanie Clifford. See 9th Cir. R. 39-1.9. This order amends the court’s mandate,” the court ruled.
Congratulations to President Trump on this final attorney fee victory in his favor this morning. Collectively, our firm obtained over $600,000 in attorney fee awards in his favor in the meritless litigation initiated by Stormy Daniels. https://t.co/ld7SVvZOp6 pic.twitter.com/1b5P3flxFb
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) April 4, 2023
The latest ruling means that, when added to previous rulings in Trump’s favour in terms of expenses, which totalled around $500,000, Daniels will owe approximately $600,000 to Trump in legal fees, with the former president reportedly also owing her around $54,000 in legal expenses.
Responding to the latest ruling, the son of the former president, Donald Trump Jr. wrote on social media: “BREAKING!!! the 9th Circuit just awarded Trump $121,962.56 in attorney fees from Stormy Daniels. Order just released. This in addition to the roughly $500k she already owes him.
“LOL glad she’s out there saying her T-shirt sales are booming she’ll be able to afford to pay Trump!”
BREAKING!!! the 9th Circuit just awarded Trump $121,962.56 in attorney fees from Stormy Daniels. Order just released. This in addition to the roughly $500k she already owes him.
LOL glad she’s out there saying her T-shirt sales are booming she’ll be able to afford to pay Trump!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 4, 2023
Ahead of the decision, Stormy Daniels took to her social media account to make lewd comments on the arrest of Mr Trump, writing: “Y’all keep saying ‘cum dumpster’ like it’s a bad thing. It’s definitely more fun being under my sexy man instead of under arrest.”
Y’all keep saying “cum dumpster” like it’s a bad thing. 😂
It’s definitely more fun being under my sexy man instead of under arrest.— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) April 4, 2023
The ruling that Daniels must pay Trump the additional $121,972.56 is from a separate case than the criminal proceedings launched by far-left New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg over the $130,000 paid out in alleged hush money to Daniels from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
The defamation case against Trump was launched by Daniels in 2018 after then-President Trump dismissed a composite sketch of a man the porn actress claimed had tried to intimidate her about an alleged affair with Mr. Trump as a “total con job”.
Her then-attorney, Michael Avenatti — who was later jailed for extortion — said at the time: “By calling the incident a ‘con job,’ Mr. Trump’s statement would be understood to state that Ms. Clifford was fabricating the crime and the existence of the assailant, both of which are prohibited under New York law, as well as the law of numerous other state.”
However, the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed last year. After being awarded nearly 300,000 from Daniels in March of last year, Mr. Trump once again denied ever having an affair with Daniels and said in a statement: “The lawsuit was a purely political stunt that never should have been started, or allowed to happen, and I am pleased that my lawyers were able to bring it to a successful conclusion after the court fully rejected her appeal.
“Now all I have to do is wait for all of the money she owes me.”
The former president added: “P.S. The Fake News probably won’t report this story!”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka