Stormy Daniels Refuses To Pay Donald Trump For His Legal Bills
Stormy Daniels is refusing to pay Donald Trump $340,000 a judge says she owes in legal bills to Donald Trump, The Blast is reporting.
It’s not uncommon for judges to rule, in a civil lawsuit, that the loser must pay the legal bills of the winner. And such is the case with Stormy (real name: Stephanie Marie Clifford). Specifically, back on April 30, as CNN reported at the time, Daniels filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump. She had claimed that in 2011, a man – whom she broadly hinted was sent by Trump or one of his associates – threatened and tried to intimidate her into not going forward with her story of an alleged affair between herself and Trump. She even provided a police sketch of the man.
Trump, in a tweet, called the sketch “a total con job.” Daniels claimed that that was an act of defamation, and she sued for $75,000. However, U.S. District Judge S. James Otero, citing the First Amendment, called Trump’s statement “rhetorical hyperbole” and dismissed Daniels’ suit, according to a Fox News report from the time. He also held Daniels liable for Trump’s legal fees, to the tune of $340,000.
She’s not going to pay, she says. At least, not all of it.
Seattle!!! See you in 1 week! pic.twitter.com/fHYFe43am5
— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) November 4, 2018
In court filings obtained this week by The Blast, Daniels says that the $341,559.50 she owes to Trump for his legal fees is artificially inflated. She says she’d gladly pay “reasonable” attorney fees, but not the “inflated” fee Trump’s attorneys claim she owes them.
Getting into specifics, she says that the 509.25 hours of attorney time for which Trump’s camp says they are owed are “astonishing and wasteful.” Further, she says that the majority of those hours were brought about by litigating a frivolous motion that she says Trump’s team never should have filed. She declined to say what that motion was.
She claims in her filing that a more reasonable amount, which she would gladly pay, is $25,000.
As of this writing, a judge has not ruled on Daniels’ claim, and Trump has not responded.
Does Daniels Even Have That Kind Of Money?
Probably. According to a March Bustle report, the adult-film actress is worth something in the neighborhood of $2 million, most of which she made in the adult-film industry. In fact, that number is likely higher now, as between March and now she released a book, Full Disclosure. And although it’s not clear how much money she made from the book, it’s undoubtedly a substantial amount.
And If She Doesn’t Pay?
Any number of things could happen to her, the most likely of which, according to The Balance Small Business, is that her income will be garnished by a court until the debt is paid off.
