A California judge has ordered Donald Trump to pay the adult film actor and director Stormy Daniels $44,100, to cover legal fees in the battle over her non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the president. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she had an affair with Trump from 2006 until 2007. Trump denies it. Daniels sued in 2018, seeking to be released from an NDA she signed with Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, 11 days before the 2016 election. The lawsuit was dismissed as the agreement was deemed unenforceable. 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 on Monday, which determined Daniels to be the “prevailing party” under California law. The ruling was posted online by Daniels’ lawyers. The White House did not immediately comment. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000. After Trump’s election, she sued to void the agreement. Trump and his supporters denied the president knew about the payment, before Trump acknowledged it in May 2018 and said Cohen had been reimbursed. In court, Trump’s lawyers also argued Daniels didn’t prove the president was a part of the NDA, which was made under the name “David Dennison”. Judge 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.”But she has not won every battle with her alleged former paramour. Daniels also sued Trump for defamation after he said on Twitter that a man she said threatened her to stay quiet in 2011 was “nonexistent”. Trump also posted side-by-side photos of the composite sketch of the man and Daniels’ husband. That lawsuit was thrown out. Daniels is appealing the decision and an order to pay Trump almost $300,000 in lawyers’ fees. The judge in that case ruled that Trump’s statements on Twitter were protected speech under the first amendment.

All data is taken from the source: https://www.theguardian.com/
Article Link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/22/donald-trump-stormy-daniels-legal-fees-non-disclosure-agreement


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