The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ordered Stormy Daniels to pay former President Donald Trump $121,972 in legal fees stemming from a 2018 defamation lawsuit she filed against him that was later dismissed. The judgment came hours after Trump was arraigned in a Manhattan court in connection to a “hush money” payment made to the porn star during the 2016 presidential campaign, the New York Post reported.
Trump noted the order while commenting on a Truth Social post later in the day: “Alvin Bragg shut down New York City, brought in 38,000 NYPD officers, and will spend an estimated $200,000,000 of NYC funds, for a totally legal $130,000 NDA. On top of all that, the 9th Circuit Court just awarded me $122,000 — over the $500,000 already awarded, from Stormy ‘Horseface’ Daniels!”
During a 2011 interview with Touch Magazine, which was never published, Daniels said she had an affair with Trump in 2006. Following the interview, she claimed an unknown man approached her and made underlying threats to her safety if she didn’t “leave Trump alone” and “forget the story.”
In 2018, Trump accused Daniels of lying about the “nonexistent man” and the alleged threats. He said the story was “a total con job.” As a result, Daniels filed a lawsuit against him.
According to a court filing, the Ninth Circuit ruled the fees demanded by Trump were “reasonable.”
The $121,972 in legal fees awarded to Trump on Tuesday are in addition to previous fees Daniels was ordered to pay when the lawsuit was dismissed, The Post reported.
Daniels — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — was represented by the notorious “shakedown” attorney, Michael Avenatti. In December, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for swindling clients out of $10 million. At the time of his sentencing, Avenatti was already serving a five year prison sentence for other crimes. The sentencing judge said, he has done “great evil for which he must answer,” Law Officer reported.
Harmeet Dhillon, who worked as Trump’s attorney, tweeted her congratulations to the 45th U.S. President on Tuesday.
“Congratulations to President Trump on this final attorney fee victory in his favor this morning,” Dhillion wrote.
“Collectively, our firm obtained over $600,000 in attorney fee awards in his favor in the meritless litigation initiated by Stormy Daniels.”
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 porn exhibitionist vowed that she would “go to jail” before paying any fees to Trump, according to The Post.
“I will go to jail before I pay a penny,” Daniels said last year after a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that she must pay Trump $300,000 in attorneys’ fees.
The former president’s elest son, Donald Trump Jr. didn’t miss an opportunity to comment on the order.
“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,” he wrote in a tweet Tuesday.
“LOL glad she’s out there saying her T-shirt sales are booming she’ll be able to afford to pay Trump!” he added.
