Trump ordered to pay $44,100 for Stormy Daniels’ legal fees
LOS ANGELES >> A California court ordered President Donald Trump last week to pay $44,100 in attorney fees to porn actress Stormy Daniels to pay for her legal battle over her effort to cancel a hush money deal brokered to keep her quiet about their sexual relationship a decade ago.
The order in Superior Court in Los Angeles determined Daniels won her lawsuit against Trump over the agreement that was signed 11 days before the 2016 presidential election. As a part of that deal, the losing party would pay the lawyers fees.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the decision.
The president’s personal lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, paid $130,000 to Daniels, who filed the suit under her legal name Stephanie Clifford. After Trump’s election, Daniels sued to void the agreement.
Trump and his supporters denied the president knew about the payment for several years before Trump acknowledged it on Twitter in May 2018 and said he reimbursed Cohen for the money paid to Daniels.
Daniels’ suit over the nondisclosure agreement was dismissed before going to trial or a settlement because the parties were no longer quiet. Trump’s lawyers said Daniels didn’t win the case and therefore wasn’t entitled to lawyer fees, but Judge Robert Broadbelt III disagreed in his ruling Monday, posted online by Daniels’ lawyers.
Trump’s lawyers also argued Daniels didn’t prove the president was a part of the nondisclosure agreement which was made under the name “David Dennison,” but Broadbelt wrote there was a large amount of evidence showing Cohen chose Dennison as a pseudonym for Trump.
After her lawyer announced the decision, Daniels wrote on Twitter: “Yup. Another win.”
Since Trump’s election, Daniels has remained in the adult entertainment industry, using her new fame to promote strip club appearances and shows, including her latest venture called “Spooky Babes Paranormal Show.”