Adult movie star Stormy Daniels has lost her appeal in her failed broadcasting lawsuit against Donald Trump – so she owes nearly $ 300,000 in legal fees to the former president.
“I’m going to jail before I pay a penny,” Daniels tweeted Monday after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against her in the long-running case.
Trump welcomed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which he often punished as president, calling it “a total and complete victory and justification for, and by, me.”
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and her then lawyer Michael Avenatti have filed the defamation lawsuit against Trump in 2018.
Daniels was paid $ 130,000 by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen ahead of the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about an alleged sexual passion she had with married Trump in 2006.
Trump denied that the meeting happened, and did so again in his statement Monday. “As I have said many times over the years, I have never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, and I never would have,” he said.
After the news of the hush sue payment became public, Daniels said she was threatened and warned about the alleged excitement in 2011 to keep quiet when a man approached her while she was with her daughter in Las Vegas and she said “to leave Trump alone.”.
She said the man then looked at her daughter and said, “This is a beautiful little girl. It would be a shame if something happened to her mother.”
They and Avenatti released a sketch of the man in 2018, which was mocked on Twitter by then-President Trump.
“A sketch years later about a non-existent man. A total con job, playing Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!” Trump tweeted.
Daniels’ trial called the tweet “false and defamatory.”
“Mr. Trump knew that his false, negligent statement was being read by people around the world, as well as widely reported, and that Ms. Clifford was exposed to threats of violence, economic damage and reputational damage as a result.” Daniels trial said.
A California federal judge, however, agreed with Trump, noting that the tweet “constitutes ‘rhetorical hyperbole’ that is commonly associated with politics and public discourse in the United States.”
“The First Amendment protects these kinds of rhetorical statements,” Judge James Otero wrote, noting that Trump was entitled to attorney fees in the case.
The 9th Circuit upheld the verdict on Friday, finding in part that Daniels had waited too long to challenge the lower court’s decision.
Daniels’ current attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Her former lawyer Avenatti was found guilty of wire fraud and identity theft for false $ 300,000 of the $ 800,000 advance paid to Daniels for his book “Full Disclosure”.
He was also convicted in 2020 for extortion, transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort and wire fraud in connection with threats he made against Nike, the sports equipment and clothing giant.
Last year, a federal judge sentenced him to 2½ years behind bars for these crimes. He is due to report to jail later this year for his conviction.
Dareh Gregorian is a policy reporter for NBC News.
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