A California federal judge has awarded attorneys for President Donald Trump nearly $300,000 in fees for Michael Avenatti and his failed defamation claim brought by porn star Stormy Daniels for which he raised $600,000. U.S. District Judge S. James Otero held that when Stormy Daniels said in a TV interview that a man had confronted her in 2011 after alleging an affair with Trump in an attempt to silence her, Trump tweeted that the person who made the threats was a “non-existent man” and that her allegation was a “total con job.”
Otero had earlier indicated that the tweet was protected as free speech since it related to a matter of public concern and involved public figures. Daniels was “in the process of making her story known to the world,” Otero said. He said the president’s tweets appeared should be protected under the First Amendment. Such speech “lies at the heart of the First Amendment” and to try to restrict it would have a “chilling effect on candidates running for office.”
It looks like Michael Avenatti’s bid to become president in 2020 has gone down in flames. His claims that Trump is a Liar have not found any legal foundation. It seems to be allegedly just a ploy to make him famous.
