Politics and Money

[lesgetrich]

From your article...

Daniels on Tuesday, in a lengthy statement posted on Twitter, said Trump had won the case “on a technicality” because her then-lawyer, Michael Avenatti, failed to promptly file a notice of appeal in her defamation suit.

In its decision Friday, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said it had no jurisdiction over Daniels’ appeal of the attorneys’ fees issue because she had failed to file a notice of appeal within a 30-day deadline of a federal judge granting the fees to Trump...

...Friday’s ruling against Daniels came a week after a Manhattan federal court judge rejected Trump’s effort to countersue writer E. Jean Carroll, who in a pending lawsuit accused him of defaming her by claiming she was lying and motivated by money when she accused Trump of having raped her years ago in a New York City department store....

...But Daniels, who recently has been involved in developing a paranormal investigative show entitled “Spooky Babes,” on Tuesday said in her statement that “although distressing,” her loss of the case “does not reflect on anything I have done or my credibility, but is the result of negligence of a criminal lawyer, Michael Avenatti.”

Daniels referred to Trump’s bragging in the notorious 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape about being able to grab women by the genitals without their consent, and getting away with it because of his celebrity status.

“It is a sad reality that in this country, a known and proven predator can openly brag about assaulting women and become president and be awarded money for his bad behavior,” Daniels said.

“My heart goes out to the others who have been victimized by Trump. I deeply regret not standing up for myself that night and for not speaking out sooner. I hope that one day the women who came after me can forgive me.”

The case has its origins in the fall of 2016, when Trump was the Republican nominee for president, and his then-personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her agreement to keep quiet about her claim of having had sex with Trump.

When Cohen later pleaded guilty to federal crimes, which included campaign finance violations related to the payment, he said he paid Daniels the money at Trump’s direction.

Cohen also admitted facilitating another hush money payment by the publisher of The National Enquirer to a second woman, who said she had a sexual affair with Trump. The former president also has denied that claim.

Daniels sued Trump when he was president in 2018, seeking to void the nondisclosure agreement with Cohen. While Trump later agreed not to enforce the agreement, a judge in 2020 ordered him to pay Daniels more than $44,000 for her legal fees in that case.

Later in 2018, Daniels sued Trump again, claiming he defamed her when, in a Twitter post, he scoffed at a police sketch artist drawing of a man who Daniels said had threatened her in 2011 over her allegation of having had sex with Trump.

Trump called the sketch a “con job” about a “nonexistent man.”

A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit later in 2018, saying Trump’s statements were protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

He also ordered Daniels to pay Trump’s attorneys’ fees in the case and sanctions.

The U.S. Supreme Court in February 2021 rejected Daniels’ effort to appeal the decision.

But Daniels had pressed an appeal on the issue of the money she owed Trump with the 9th Circuit.