Trump attorneys seeking $800K from Stormy Daniels over defamation suit

The judge did not immediately rule on the fee request.

Donald Trump’s lawyers are seeking $800,000 in legal fees and penalties from adult film actress Stormy Daniels for her failed defamation lawsuit against the president.

Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a defamation lawsuit—and lost—against Mr Trump, alleging he defamed her when called her a “total con job” in a tweet.

The judge ruled against Ms Daniels, citing the president was simply exercising his First Amendment right.

Now, the adult actress might have to pay as much as $778,806 for losing her lawsuit against the president. Mr Trump’s attorney Charles Harder asked a Los Angeles Federal court in a hearing on Monday for a full reimbursement of $390,000 in legal fees for the president, and then an equal amount to deter against “repeat filer of frivolous defamation cases.”

Michael Avenatti, Ms Daniels’s attorney, called Mr Harder’s fee request “gross and excessive,” before describing the sanction on future lawsuit to be “absolutely absurd and outrageous.”

“You can’t just pick a number out of thin air in an effort to put my client under Donald Trump’s thumb and intimidate her,” Mr Avenatti said.

US District Judge S. James Otero, who presided over the hearing, has not yet ruled on Mr Harder’s motion. Mr Otero expressed his scepticism over the number of hours—nearly 600—Mr Harding billed the president. He also asked Mr Harding to show him other case examples to support their request of Ms Daniels paying twice the amount of legal fees.

The alleged defamation ordeal between Ms Daniels and Mr Trump began when Ms Daniels alleged that she had a one-night stand with Mr Trump in 2006. Ms Daniels filed a lawsuit against Mr Trump earlier this year in an attempt to break her non-disclosure agreement she signed a few days before the 2016 election in exchange for a $130,000 “hush-money” settlement from Mr Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen. Mr Trump denied having an affair with Ms Daniels.

Ms Daniels also alleged that in 2010, she was threatened by an unrecognizable man at Las Vegas parking lot to stay quiet about the alleged affair. She also released a composite sketch of the alleged perpetrator.

She then sued Mr Trump for defamation when he responded to the allegation via tweet: “A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!”