A federal judge in California ordered Stormy Daniels to pay $293,052.33 in attorneys' fees, costs and penalties to attorneys representing President Donald Trump in the defamation lawsuit Daniels and his attorney Michael Avenatti filed against Trump earlier this year. year.
Trump's attorney, Charles Harder, asked the adult film actress for a total of nearly $780,000 -- $389,000 in attorneys' fees and another $389,000 in penalties at a hearing last week.
In a statement, Harder called the decision "a total victory for the president."
"The court's order, along with the court's prior order to dismiss Stormy Daniels' defamation case against the president, together constitute a total victory for the president and a total defeat for Stormy Daniels in this case," Harder said. .
The defamation lawsuit, separate from the original lawsuit over the nondisclosure agreement Daniels signed with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who is now at the center of a federal criminal case, was filed earlier this year after Trump called Daniels' accusation that an unknown man threatened her in a parking lot to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump was a "total scam job" in a tweet.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she and Trump had an affair in 2006 after she married current first lady Melania Trump and gave birth to her son, Barron. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.
Avenatti argued that Trump's tweet, posted on April 18, "attacks the veracity of his version" of the incident and that Trump's statement was "false and defamatory, and that the tweet was defamation ... because it accused him of committing a serious crime." Federal District Judge S. James Otero wrote in his opinion dismissing the lawsuit in October.
Otero said the argument was baseless.
"The Court agrees with Mr. Trump's argument because the tweet in question constitutes 'rhetorical hyperbole' normally associated with politics and public discourse in the United States. The First Amendment protects this type of rhetorical statement," Otero wrote. .
As part of Otero's decision, he ordered Daniels to pay a portion of Trump's attorney fees.
Trump celebrated the decision in October by calling Daniels "Horseface" in a tweet.
Avenatti said Tuesday's ruling was a partial victory for him and his client.
"Trump requested $800,000 in attorney fees, costs and penalties from the minor defamation case. The amount awarded is well under half, acknowledging the request was gross and excessive," Avenatti said in a since-deleted tweet. .
"The amount in fees awarded to Stormy in the main NDA (non-disclosure agreement) case will be at least $1 million more than this."
So far, the judge has not ruled on the merits of the nondisclosure case or awarded fees to any of the attorneys.
Avenatti later added a statement in a series of tweets.
"Trump and his attorney's attempt to mislead the public about the importance of attorneys' fees in the defamation case, which are a fraction of what my client is owed in the main NDA case, is a joke. absolute," wrote Avenatti.
"People are smarter than that."
"Charles Harder and Trump deserve each other because they are both dishonest," Avenatti wrote in another tweet. "If Stormy has to pay $300k to Trump in the defamation case (which will never be delayed on appeal) and Trump has to pay Stormy $1,500,000 in the NDA case ($1,200,000 net to Stormy) How is this a Trump victory?
