Charles Harder, an attorney representing Donald Trump, has asked a federal judge to order Stormy Daniels (legal name Stephanie Clifford) to pay $800,000 in legal fees and penalties after she lost her defamation case against Trump.
Harder’s breakdown of the charges included more than 500 hours allegedly spent by his firm in defending its client, an amount that isn’t unusual in a case like this one. In this case, billable hours from the firm came to about $390,000.
What is concerning (and extremely telling) is that Harder hopes added penalties (which make up the rest of the $800,000 total) imposed by the judge will be a deterrent and stop “frivolous defamation claims” in the future; so, basically, that the threat of being punished by paying a lot of money will be enough to snuff out future allegations.
Where did this all begin? To review, Daniels initially sued the president after he tweeted that her claims that a man threatened her and told her not to come forward with her story of her alleged affair with Trump was a “total con job.”
Daniels filed the lawsuit last April.
In early October, District Judge S. James Otero dismissed the defamation lawsuit. Judge Otero ruled that the tweet (embedded above) was actually protected speech, and not actionable. Why? His logic was that it involved the opinion of a public official (in this case, Trump) and was not a statement of fact. Which of course makes people worry: Where, if anywhere, is the line for what Trump can tweet as president before being held accountable?
Upon ruling against Daniels, the judge ruled that Trump could recoup his legal fees from Daniels. Daniels has appealed the decision. While the ruling is disappointing, Daniels’ loss in the defamation case (and the demand that she pay a large sum of money) isn’t necessarily surprising. The defamation case was always likely to be an uphill battle. Her other lawsuits, including against Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, are ongoing.
What is especially disturbing is that Trump’s lawyers seem ready to make an example out of Daniels, possibly hoping to deter any other people from coming forward with allegations against the president. Deterring people with the threat of high costs (not to mention public scrutiny and jabs from the president himself) is nothing short of unethical. And at this point, nothing short of expected.
