Stormy Daniels is ordered to pay Donald Trump a further $122,000 in attorney fees
Stormy Daniels must pay nearly $122,000 in Donald Trump’s legal fees related to the porn actor’s failed defamation lawsuit, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The California decision came about the same time Trump became the only ex-president charged with a crime when he was arraigned in a Manhattan courthouse yesterday, so it will come as a small silver lining amid the torrid legal battle that he faces.
Trump pleaded not guilty in a New York City courtroom to a 34-misdemeanor charge that charged him with falsifying business records in a scheme to cover up allegations of extramarital affairs involving Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal during his first run erupted in the White House.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 days before the 2016 presidential election as part of a nondisclosure agreement.
She sued him for defamation after he dismissed her claims that she had been threatened to keep quiet about the appointment as a “total scam.” A judge dismissed the case in 2018.
An appeals court ruled on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, that Daniels must pay nearly $122,000 in Donald Trump’s legal fees incurred in connection with the porn actor’s failed defamation lawsuit
Former US President Donald Trump walks free before making comments on the day of his New York court appearance after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury following an investigation into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in Palm Beach, Florida, USA. April 4, 2023
On Tuesday, a commissioner of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trump’s attorneys spent “reasonably more than 183 hours” on an appeal in the case, but denied a request for an additional $5,150 in other fees because it was not specified.
In all, Daniels has been ordered to pay more than $600,000 in legal fees from Trump, Harmeet Dillon, one of his attorneys in the case, tweeted.
That includes about $300,000 in attorney fees that Daniels was previously required to pay.
After a federal appeals court upheld that award last year, Daniels declared, “I’m going to jail before I pay a dime.”
Messages requesting comment from her attorney, Oklahoma attorney Clark Brewster, were not immediately returned after hours on Tuesday.
The news that Daniels will be forced to put more money into his treasury will be welcomed by Trump, who last night begged his supporters for donations to pour in after claiming he would spend hundreds of millions to fight the lawsuit and his clear name.
“If you’re in a bad way, like many of you, don’t send anything. If you’re doing well, which has been made possible by the great policies of the Trump administration, send your contribution to donaldjtrump.com,” he stated through his Truth Social network.
It came as his campaign sent out marketing emails to subscribers flogging a t-shirt with a mock-up mugshot of Trump following his arraignment yesterday.
Former US President Donald Trump departs after speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on April 4, 2023 his appearance in court for an alleged “hush-money” payment.
NO mugshot YET, but that doesn’t stop Trump from fundraising using a fake photo as the former president’s campaign claims $10 million in donations since indictment in Manhattan
In another e-mail to supporters yesterday, Trump said, “You are the reason I could NEVER give up on our mission to save America — no matter how mean and mean the attacks once got.”
Claims that his campaign raised $10 million in just five days could not be immediately verified because fundraising data is not recorded with federal authorities until the end of each quarter.
But in recent days, the campaign said it had received a flurry of small donations — a quarter of them first-time donors, averaging $34 each.
Trump, who was impeached twice by the US House but never convicted in the US Senate, is the first former president to face criminal charges.
The former reality TV star has hyped that story to his political advantage, raking in millions of dollars since indictment over claims of a “witch hunt.”
A conviction would not prevent Trump from running for president or winning it in 2024.