A federal judge on Monday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by porn star Stormy Daniels against President Donald Trump and ordered the woman to pay the presidents legal fees.
U.S. District Judge James Otero said that Trump was well within his right to free speech when he tweeted about Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, earlier this year, saying she was a total con job. Those comments, which Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti called defamation, were just politics, the judge ruled .
The court agrees with Mr. Trumps argument because the tweet in question constitutes rhetorical hyperbole normally associated with politics and public discourse in the United States, Otero wrote. The First Amendment protects this type of rhetorical statement.
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Donald J. Trump","author_url":"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump","cache_age":86400,"description":"A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018\n\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Donald J. 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Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"relegenceId":2789214,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"stormy daniels","slug":"stormy-daniels","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/stormy-daniels","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/stormy-daniels","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/stormy-daniels"},"relegenceId":3782744,"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Stormy Daniels","slug":"stormy-daniels","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/stormy-daniels"},{"name":"Michael Cohen lawyer","slug":"michael-cohen-lawyer","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/michael-cohen-lawyer","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/michael-cohen-lawyer","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/michael-cohen-lawyer"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Michael Cohen","slug":"michael-cohen","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/michael-cohen"},{"name":"michael avenatti","slug":"michael-avenatti","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/michael-avenatti","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/michael-avenatti","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/michael-avenatti"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Michael Avenatti","slug":"michael-avenatti","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/michael-avenatti"},{"name":"defamation","slug":"defamation","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/defamation","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/defamation","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/defamation"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/defamation"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false,"enhancements":{}}">A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018
Avenatti on Monday said the ruling did not affect his clients other claims against Trump or the presidents former lawyer Michael Cohen and said he would appeal the dismissal.
Daniels is also suing Trump in Los Angeles Superior Court over a nondisclosure agreement , which was meant to prevent her from discussing her claim of a 2006 affair with Trump, saying its invalid because the president never signed it.
Daniels other claims against Trump and Cohen proceed unaffected. Trumps contrary claims are as deceptive as his claims about the inauguration attendance, Avenatti wrote on Twitter, saying he was confident in a reversal.
Re Judges limited ruling: Daniels other claims against Trump and Cohen proceed unaffected. Trumps contrary claims are as deceptive as his claims about the inauguration attendance.
We will appeal the dismissal of the defamation cause of action and are confident in a reversal.
Re Judges limited ruling: Daniels other claims against Trump and Cohen proceed unaffected. Trumps contrary claims are as deceptive as his claims about the inauguration attendance.
Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 15, 2018
We will appeal the dismissal of the defamation cause of action and are confident in a reversal.
Trumps lawyer Charles Harder celebrated the news.
No amount of spin or commentary by Stormy Daniels or her lawyer, Mr. Avenatti, can truthfully characterize todays ruling in any way other than total victory for President Trump and total defeat for Stormy Daniels, Harder said in a statement to the media.
Daniels filed the lawsuit earlier this year after she spoke about her claims that a man had made a threat against her if she spoke about her alleged affair with Trump to the media. The president, who has continued to deny any relationship with Daniels, later lambasted her claims on Twitter, saying they were a total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!
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Daniels attorneys said the message amounted to an attack on her character and painted her as a liar, resulting in the defamation suit.
Otero had signaled last month that he might toss the suit , saying that much of the presidents rhetoric amounted to free speech by a public official on a matter of public concern.
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