Stormy Daniels Defamation Claim Against Trump Set To Fail
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By Aaron Miller-
The judge presiding over Stormy Daniels defamatory claim against President Trump has cast doubt over her chances of success. The judge said the president was engaging in free speech when he posted a controversial tweet about the adult film actor.
U.S District Judge James S Otero spoke in support of Mr Trump’s attorneys during a hearing, saying the message “appears to be rhetorical hyperbole by a public official involving a public figure”.
The tweet in question arrived after Daniels- real name is Stephanie Clifford- and her attorney released a composite sketch of the man they said approached her in a parking lot after she agreed to publish an interview about her alleged affair with Mr Trump. The president referred to the story as “a total con job” on social media, describing the person Ms Daniels alleged was threatening to her as a “non existent man.”
The man who allegedly made the threats has not been identified to date, making Daniels claim without any substance unless she can provide evidence. The case is likely to be thrown out because it lacks any merit whatsoever. Daniels has enjoyed huge publicity since her revelation of the alleged affair with the president, even going into intimate details in a book recently published about the said affair. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen admitted in court that he was instructed to give $130,000 hush money to Daniels over the claim. Following the public uproar in connection with the allegation, Trump’s legal representatives appear to have given up any desire to challenge the hush money allegation against Trump.
“The question is whether the tweet by the president is protected communication or political hyperbole and non-defamatory on its face,” U.S. District Judge James Otero said at a hearing on Monday
Charles Harder, a lawyer for Mr Trump, claimed the president was simply calling the claims “hogwash,” rather than stating a fact about the alleged incident. Mr Harder also said the president was “calling BS” in the tweet posted to his personal Twitter account 18 April.
“A sketch years later about a non existent man,” he wrote, sharing an image of the sketch. “A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!”These were the comments being considered defamatory, and Daniel’s suit would succeed if she were able to produce the man who made the threats against her. Without that evidence, the case fails every test of defmation.
