Stormy Daniels must pay the Trump team $120,000 in legal fees

Ninth Circuit Orders Stormy Daniels to Pay $111,000 in Attorney Fees in a Failed Defamation Litigation

The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the former president on Tuesday, ordering adult film star Stormy Daniels to pay $121,972 in legal fees for a failed defamation suit.

The civil litigation is unrelated to Trump’s arrest and the charges filed against him in New York, but it does involve Daniels who was paid hush money in order to keep quiet about her affair. (Trump denies the affair.)

Daniels filed a lawsuit against Trump after he called an allegation by her that she was threatened in a parking lot by an unknown man a total con job.

Federal Judge S. James Otero dismissed the lawsuit, saying Trump’s tweet constitutes ” ‘rhetorical hyperbole’ normally associated with politics and public discourse” and is protected by the First Amendment.

A motion to dismiss, reply to the opposition to the motion, two extension motions, the answering brief, and a fee application were prepared by Trump’s attorneys.

“We obtained over $600,000 in Attorney Fee awards in favor of Donald Trump in the meritless litigation initiated by Stormy Daniels,” said Trump’s attorney Harmeet Dhal in a tweets celebrating the legal victory.

Daniels subsequently filed a motion to knock down the fee payment. On Tuesday, the court dismissed in part her latest request, which only increased the bill she has to pay.

According to court documents, Daniels said that the law group overstaffed the appeal and that it asked for fees to be reduced.

She asked the judge to cap the law firm’s hourly rates at $500 for partners and $350 for associates, but that request was rejected because of inflation and increase in the attorneys’ experience.

The court denied a request from Daniels to pay Trump for time spent responding to an appeal, saying the request did not have enough detail about the law firm’s billing.