Daniels required to pay Trump almost $300,000 in attorneys’ fees.
QUICK FACTS:
- The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected adult film actress Stormy Daniels’ (real name Stephanie Clifford) bid to overturn a lower court’s decision rejecting Daniels’ defamation suit against President Donald J. Trump, Newsweek reports.
- Daniels, 43, has vowed to defy the court’s ruling ordering her to pay nearly $300,000 in Trump’s attorneys’ fees over her failed defamation lawsuit. “I will go to jail before I pay a penny,” she tweeted.
- President Trump released a statement celebrating his win: “The 9th Circuit just issued a final ruling in the Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) frivolous lawsuit case against me brought by her disgraced lawyer, Michael Avenatti, upholding the lower court ruling that she owes me nearly $300,000 in,” Trump said.
- “As I have stated many times throughout the years, I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I ever have wanted to,” Trump went on to say. “The ruling was a total and complete victory and vindication for, and of me.”
TRUMP’S FULL STATEMENT:
“The 9th Circuit just issued a final ruling in the Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) frivolous lawsuit case against me brought by her disgraced lawyer, Michael Avenatti, upholding the lower court ruling that she owes me nearly $300,000 in attorney fees, costs, and sanctions (not including appeal costs). As I have stated many times throughout the years, I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I ever have wanted to. The ruling was a total and complete victory and vindication for, and of me,” Trump wrote.
“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.”
“P.S. The Fake News probably won’t report this story!”
BACKGROUND:
- Daniels first revealed her claim in 2016, but the story received major traction two years later, when the Wall Street Journal revealed that she had received $130,000 just before the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about the alleged affair, The Washington Examiner explains.
- She later sued Trump for defamation after he denied the affair took place and disparaged her.
