After seven months at trial, porn Star Stormy Daniels’ defamation case against President Donald Trump was thrown out of court Monday — and it’s going to cost her liberal fans bigtime.
According to Trump’s lawyer, the actions by Judge S. James Oreto were nothing short of a complete legal win for the president.
The judge also ruled that Daniels has to pay for all of Trump’s legal expenses. While the exact figure owed isn’t yet know, it’s expected to be a massive payment.
The porn star’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, made headlines when he set-up a crowd funding donation page to help Daniels with her legal expenses. Nearly 17,000 anti-Trump activists shelled out cash in the hopes they’d help embarrass the president.
Monday, they learned that much of their donation money is going to be paid to Trump.
Whoops.
The federal judge ruled the president made a “hyperbolic statement” against a political adversary when he tweeted about a composite sketch the porn actress’ lawyer released.
Daniels sued Trump in April after he said a composite sketch of a man she said threatened her in 2011 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with the real estate mogul was a “con job.”
Trump tweeted that the man was “nonexistent” and that Daniels was playing the “fake news media for fools.” He retweeted a side-by-side photo comparing the sketch with a photo of Daniels’ husband.
In an order handed down Monday, the judge said Trump’s statement was protected speech under the First Amendment.
“If this Court were to prevent Mr. Trump from engaging in this type of ‘rhetorical hyperbole’ against a political adversary, it would significantly hamper the office of the President,” the judge wrote. “Any strongly worded response by a president to another politician or public figure could constitute an action for defamation. This would deprive this country of the ‘discourse’ common to the political process.”
Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, vowed to appeal the decision and said he was confident it would be reversed.
“There is something really rich in Trump relying on the First Amendment to justify defaming a woman,” Avenatti said.
But the president’s lawyer immediately hailed the ruling as a “total victory” for Trump.
“No amount of spin or commentary by Stormy Daniels or her lawyer, Mr. Avenatti, can truthfully characterize today’s ruling in any way other than total victory for President Trump and total defeat for Stormy Daniels,” Trump’s attorney, Charles Harder, said in a statement.
The judge’s ruling also entitles Trump to collect legal fees from Daniels, but the amount that Daniels would need to pay will be determined later, Harder said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article