Porn star’s suit against Trump tossed

Stormy Daniels’ lawyer says the actress will appeal the ruling

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge on Monday dismissed the defamation lawsuit Stormy Daniels filed against President Donald Trump, saying his tweet attacking the porn star’s credibility was free speech protected by the Constitution.

“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,” Judge S. James Otero of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles wrote in a 14-page ruling. “Any strongly worded response by a president to another politician or public figure could constitute an action for defamation. This would deprive the country of the ‘discourse’ common to the political process.”

Otero’s ruling was a rare win for Trump in a seven-month legal battle with the adult film actress who says she had a one-night stand with him in 2006.

Otero ordered Daniels to pay Trump’s legal fees for his defense in the suit. The dismissal of the defamation case has no bearing on Daniels’ continuing legal fight to void the nondisclosure pact that bars her from speaking publicly about her alleged affair with Trump.

“No amount of spin or commentary by Stormy Daniels or her lawyer … can truthfully characterize today’s ruling in any way other than total victory for President Trump and total defeat for Stormy Daniels,” Trump lawyer Charles J. Harder said.

The amount of the Trump legal fees Daniels must pay will be determined later, Harder said.

Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, said Daniels would appeal Otero’s ruling.

“There is something really rich in Trump relying on the First Amendment to justify defaming a woman,” he said by email.

Trump’s April 18 tweet came after Avenatti released a forensic artist’s sketch of a man whom Daniels said had threatened her in 2011 if she spoke publicly about her alleged 2006 sexual affair with Trump. The president has denied having sex with her.