U.S. District Judge S. James Otero on Monday threw out porn star Stormy Daniels defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump. Otero dismissed Daniels' case on First Amendment grounds.
According to the judge, Trump's tweet, which is what was called into question, is "‘rhetorical hyperbole’ normally associated with politics and public discourse in the United States," the Washington Post reported.
“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.
Not only was Daniels lawsuit thrown out but she was also ordered to pay Trump's legal fees.
Daniels' defamation lawsuit was based on one of Trump's tweets from mid-April. Daniels said she was threatened by a man in a parking lot in Las Vegas back in 2011 for going public about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump that took place in 2006. Trump has denied the encounter ever took place and her being threatened in Vegas, Fox News reported.
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018
Trump's camp is considering this a win. Avenatti took to Twitter to disagree:
Be clear - even assuming Trump is owed attys fees from the defamation case (if he wins the appeal), they will be dwarfed by the fees he and Cohen will be required to pay in connection with the NDA case. Not even close. Yet more “winning” from Trump.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 16, 2018
According to Avenatti, an appeal has been filed:
Here is the Notice of Appeal we just filed with the Ninth Circuit relating to the defamation claim against Trump. His record before the Ninth Circuit has been anything but good. #Basta pic.twitter.com/SK8QdycoUW
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 16, 2018