Stormy Daniels sues Trump for defamation

[Mrs. Overall]

Source: The Hill

Adult-film star Stormy Daniels has filed a defamation suit against President Trump in addition to her ongoing one against his personal attorney, Michael Cohen.

Daniels's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted Monday that his client has filed the lawsuit for Trump's "irresponsible and defamatory statements" about Daniels, whom Cohen paid $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement weeks before the 2016 election.

The complaint alleges that Trump's tweets mocking Daniels over a forensic sketch of a man she claims threatened her to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the president amount to defamation.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is seeking damages in excess of $75,000, claiming that in posting the tweets, Trump knew that Daniels "would be subjected to threats of violence, economic harm, and reputational damage."

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/385517-stormy-daniels-sues-trump-for-defamation

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Couldn't have happened

To a lower maggot than 45/140.

[eggplant]

12. I'm unclear on the 140 reference. Can you explain?

[JustAnotherGen]

19. The Twittter

When it got the electoral college it had 140 characters it could 'twit tweet'.

[eggplant]

20. Heh. Pretty funny. n/t

[CatMor]

2. Too bad we can't have a class action lawsuit against him....

by a vast majority of Americans for his defamatory statements and lies.

[Gothmog]

3. This will be a fun lawsuit to watch

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. If you ask me, this lawsuit is a long shot.

Stormy doesn't seem to be suffering any economic harm, and how do you damage the reputation of a porn star? In certain kinds of slander cases, called slander per se, damages are presumed, but those cases are: (1) a claim that the person committed a crime; or (2) that they had a "loathsome," contagious or infectious disease (usually an STD); or (3) that they were "unchaste" (porn star?); or (4) incompetence in their business or career. If you can't claim slander per se you have to prove actual damages, and Stormy seems to be, if anything, profiting from all the attention.

[jberryhill]

6. It would require an interesting sort of audience

The class of people who thought:

"I thought she had integrity, and so I had bought her videos and gone to her performances, until Donald Trump said she made up the claim about the sketch. At that point, I stopped spending money on Stormy Daniels' videos and public performances."

Not sure how many of those people there are. Maybe someone will produce a sketch of one.

[beachbum bob]

7. Doesn't matter if it's a long shot, it has merit and trump will have to give

A deposition....he can't get out of it....and it will be matter of record for perjury. Just like with bill Clinton...

[truthisfreedom]

8. He's called her a liar (reputation matters even to a Porn Star) and

has caused her to fear for her life and safety.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. What are her monetary damages?

[Perseus]

11. It must be assumed that Avenatti will have proof of that

but the defamation lawsuit is because he called her a liar and placed her life, and that of her family in jeopardy because she started to get threats.

It has nothing to do with the fact that she is a porn star, that doesn't mean she is a liar, no relation with profession and honesty.

[jberryhill]

21. First off....

Whether other people decided to threaten her is not something that matters in a defamation claim. Any media figure, whether supporting or detracting from Trump, gets death threats. That is merely a consequence of the internet and crazy people. Were there people threatening her before he said what he did? Yes. Are there people threatening her now? Yes. So, at the very least, you'd have to make some sort of quantitative or qualitative cause and effect relation to Trump's statement about the sketch. Even then, other people are responsible for their own threats.

Secondly, while it's not nice to call someone a liar, that is really not relevant to the question of "has she suffered any monetary loss as a consequence of that?"

As you put it yourself, "no relation with profession and honesty" - You in fact nailed the basic problem here. Unlike, say, a banker, a pharmacist, a bookkeeper, there is no part of her professional reputation which turns on whether or not she is being honest about the sketch of the person she alleges to have threatened her seven years ago.

In other words, there is no segment of her audience which is saying, "Well, I liked the videos and dance performances before President Trump said that sketch was a phony" in any measurable amount.

And third, one has to look at the overall context of whether Trump calling someone a liar is anything that anyone believes anyway. In other words, who thought Daniels was telling the truth until Trump said otherwise?

[jberryhill]

22. Or the substantive basis, really

The set of people who believed Daniels was telling the truth until Trump said otherwise is a club that can probably meet in a phone booth.

Or how about:

Does the sketch look like the person who threatened her in 2011 or not?

[Nitram]

5. Fight fire with fire. Or shit with shit. Whatever works.

[CelticWinter]

10. i love it

[mobeau69]

13. Sue his nasty ass into the ground! Good work Avenatti.

You da man.

[BigmanPigman]

14. This is what Bill Maher said we should all be doing.

Sandy Hook parents are suing Alex Jones and Stormy is suing the moron. Everyone should be suing for defamation, slander, libel and what ever else they can. The moron had 3,500 lawsuits over the years so he deserves to be on the receiving end of lawsuits.

[True Blue American]

15. Now the Enquirer

Front page calling Cohen names ,trying to deflect from Trump.cohen needs to sue the Enquirer!

[NCjack]

16. Trump may have to settle to get this case out of the news. nt

[sandensea]

17. This might finally answer that age-old question: can a sitting president be impeached

It already looks as though the answer will be a louder yes than a porn star money shot.

[hlthe2b]

18. Was trying to figure out where she filed: Stormy Daniels filed the complaint in federal court in NYC

there it is: Stormy Daniels filed the complaint in federal court in NYC
hmmm...

[bluestarone]

23. I feel it should be like Rumps lawyer says, It should be $75,000

PER LIE!!!! Every time RUMP lies it's $75,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hell one day that could be let's see 75 times 24, could be 1.8 million dollars per day!!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. $75k is just a procedural amount. In federal court you have to claim

a minimum amount of $75k or they will throw out your complaint. The actual damages have to be proved at trial.

[bluestarone]

25. I was trying to compare RUMPS lawyer Amount (1 million per violation) per Stormy's violations

Trying to be funny here.