President Trump has been ordered to pay $44,100 to Stephanie Clifford, the adult film actress better known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, to reimburse legal fees she incurred while suing him.
The ruling was issued by California Superior Court Judge Robert Broadbelt recently and involves a lawsuit Ms. Clifford brought in a bid to break a 2016 non-disclosure agreement.
Ms. Clifford alleges she had an affair with Mr. Trump before he entered office and that she was paid $130,000 by Michael Cohen, the president’s former lawyer, not to disclose it.
She sued in 2018 to try to void the NDA, which was ultimately ruled moot and dismissed after Mr. Trump’s legal team agreed outside of court not to enforce the agreement’s terms.
Ms. Clifford subsequently asked to be reimbursed for the money she spent on lawyers, resulting in the judge ruling Monday to give her most but not all of the thousands she sought.
Judge Broadbelt ruled that Ms. Clifford is the “prevailing party” in the lawsuit and accordingly entitled to “recover reasonable attorney’s fees from Defendant.”
“The court orders that plaintiff Stephanie Clifford shall recover $44,100 in attorney’s fees against defendant Donald J. Trump in this action,” the judge ruled.
Ms. Clifford had asked the court for $57,050 in attorney’s fees and more than $10,000 in additional costs. She was ultimately awarded roughly two-thirds the amount she requested.
In explaining the $44,100, figure, the judge ruled Ms. Clifford “failed to meet her burden of introducing competent and admissible evidence” to prove all the fees were reasonable.
The judge’s ruling was ordered Monday but went unnoticed until Ms. Clifford and one of her lawyers, Clark O. Brewster, shared it on Twitter.
“Another win!” Ms. Clifford tweeted.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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