A federal judge has dismissed porn actress Stormy Daniels’ defamation lawsuit against President Trump, arguing that the President’s comments about Daniels are protected “rhetorical hyperbole” under the First Amendment, The Washington Post reported.
Trump’s lawyer Charles Harder told the Post the ruling was a “total victory for President Trump and a total defeat for Stormy Daniels.”
Daniels sued Trump for defamation after he publicly suggested she lied about the alleged sexual affair she had with Trump a decade ago.
Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, who has floated he may run for president in 2020, tweeted that he had appealed the ruling on Monday evening.
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
The lawsuit tossed by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero in Los Angeles on Monday is just one of Daniels’ legal claims against Trump. She also sued Trump to void the nondisclosure agreement that Michael Cohen — Trump’s former lawyer — arranged for her to sign, alongside a hush payment of $130,000, just before the 2016 election to keep her quiet about the alleged affair.
Trump has also been sued for defamation by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos. She sued Trump after he suggested she was lying about him allegedly sexually assaulting her in 2007.
