The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, ordering adult film star Stormy Daniels to pay an additional $121,972 in legal fees related to a defamation lawsuit she filed and lost against him. The decision comes after the court previously ordered Daniels to pay more than $500,000 for Trump's legal expenses.
In a statement released following the ruling, District Judge S. James Otero said that Trump's comments were protected by the First Amendment and subsequently ordered Daniels to pay roughly $293,000 in total. Harmeet Dhillon, one of Trump's attorneys involved in this case celebrated the victory via Twitter: "This is another significant win for our client," he wrote.
Donald Trump Jr., eldest son of the former president also tweeted his congratulations on Tuesday.
Stormy Daniels had sued Donald Trump over his characterization of her claims about being threatened by an unidentified man as a "total con job." However, her case was dismissed by Judge Otero who ruled that she must cover reasonable attorney fees incurred during litigation totaling more than 183 hours worked on this matter.
Daniels appealed against paying these costs arguing they were too high but ultimately failed upon review from Ninth Circuit Court which found them indeed reasonable due diligence performed across two law firms - Harder LLP and Dhillon Law Group.
It should be noted that while both cases involve allegations surrounding payments made during 2016 presidential campaign towards Ms.Daniels neither are directly connected; rather civil litigation stands apart from recent criminal charges filed New York where Manhattan District Attorney Office alleges falsification business records relating reimbursements involving Michael Cohen (former lawyer fixer) at its core.Trump pleaded not guilty all counts leveled him earlier day before returning news another successful outcome courtroom albeit different venue jurisdiction altogether