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LOS ANGELES — Porn star Stormy Daniels must pay President Donald Trump nearly $293,000 for his attorneys’ fees and another $1,000 in sanctions after her defamation suit against him was dismissed, a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered Tuesday.
Trump’s attorney, Charles Harder, had requested nearly $390,000 in fees, but Judge S. James Otero cut the amount by 25 percent. He also wanted a nearly equal amount in sanctions, but only received $1,000.
Attorney Michael Avenatti, who represents Daniels, tweeted the order “will never hold up on appeal.”
Daniels alleges she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement days before the 2016 presidential election.
She sued him after he dismissed her claims of being threatened to keep quiet about the tryst as a “total con job.” The judge threw out that case in October.
Daniels Alleges She Had a One-Night Affair
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, still has a case pending in Los Angeles challenging a non-disclosure agreement she signed with Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen to prevent her from discussing the alleged affair.
Harder defended a nearly $390,000 legal bill and asked for an equal amount in sanctions as a deterrent against a “repeat filer of frivolous defamation cases.”
Otero previously noted that fees by Harder’s firm — as high as $840 an hour — were reasonable but the 580 hours spent on the case appeared to be excessive.
Daniels alleges she had a one-night affair. She sued him earlier this year seeking to break a non-disclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 election about the tryst as part of a $130,000 hush money settlement. Trump has denied the affair, but essentially acknowledged the payment to Daniels.
Daniels Alleged That She Was Threatened to Keep Quiet
Despite the deal to stay quiet, Daniels spoke out publicly and alleged that five years after the affair she was threatened to keep quiet by a man she did not recognize in a Las Vegas parking lot. She also released a composite sketch of the mystery man.
She sued Trump for defamation after he responded to her allegation by tweeting: “A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!”
Otero ruled in October that Trump’s statement was “rhetorical hyperbole” against a political adversary and was protected speech under the First Amendment.
Although the lawsuit didn’t get far before Otero tossed it, he said it was a “one of a kind” case that demanded a fair bit of legal work. Daniels has appealed Otero’s decision and Avenatti said Monday he expects to prevail at a higher court.
Avenatti also said he will be seeking attorney’s fees against Trump in the ongoing hush money case and he anticipates being awarded a figure that “dwarfs exponentially” what Trump is seeking in the defamation case, possibly exceeding $2 million.
Trump’s lead attorney previously said the fees and unspecified monetary sanctions were earned because of the extraordinary nature of the defamation case and because of Avenatti’s gamesmanship.
Cohen Has Pleaded Guilty to Several Felonies
“This action is virtually unprecedented in American legal history,” Harder wrote in court papers. Daniels “not only brought a meritless claim for defamation against the sitting president of the United States, but she also has engaged, along with her attorney, in massive national publicity.”
Cohen has pleaded guilty to several felonies and admitted funneling money to Daniels to keep her quiet about an affair she has said she had with Trump.
Avenatti was arrested last month on suspicion of domestic violence.
Prosecutors declined bringing felony charges against Avenatti. They are investigating whether he should face a misdemeanor charge for allegations he roughed up a girlfriend. Avenatti has denied wrongdoing.
The Cohen and Davidson lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court is on hold until May.
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