Stormy Daniels Was Ordered to Pay Donald Trump Over $500K in Legal Fees — Why?
"I've chosen not to pay while it's still pending..."
May 9 2024, Updated 12:27 p.m. ET
In March 2023, former President Donald Trump was indicted in New York City on 34 counts of felony charges related to hush money payments over a sex scandal with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
But Trump — who was also indicted in Florida over mishandling classified documents, as well as in Georgia and D.C. over his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot — managed to secure a victory in a different court setting.
That victory resulted in Daniels being ordered to pay the politician some serious money. So, what exactly happened that resulted in Daniels owing Trump more than half a million dollars? Let's unpack the situation as it stands.
Trump speaks to the press with attorney Todd Blanche at his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 7, 2024 in New York City.
Why does Stormy Daniels owe Donald Trump money?
Thanks to documents from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, we know that Trump scored a serious victory over Daniels in Los Angeles in a completely separate legal battle 3,000 miles away from where he was indicted in New York.
In 2018, Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford) sued Trump after she claimed that an unknown man threatened her in a parking lot to keep quiet about a past affair with the former president. Her allegations spurred Trump to call her a "total con job" on Twitter/X.
Daniels's lawsuit — which called Trump's tweet "false and defamatory" — was dismissed in October 2018 by District Judge S. James Otero, who said that Trump's tweet was protected by the First Amendment.
Judge Otero then ordered Daniels to pay roughly $293,000 in legal fees, followed by another $240,000 when she attempted and lost another appeal.
Stormy Daniels pictured in 2023
In a third ruling, the judge ordered Daniels to make another payment to Trump — this time at $120,000.
When Daniels told the court that the total sum (over $500,000) was excessive, they remained firm in their decision.
"Clifford’s argument that the fee request is unreasonable and excessive is not well-founded," the 9th Circuit filing explained of Stormy's grievances. Later in the document, it was stated that "Trump’s attorneys reasonably spent the requested 183.35 hours preparing a motion to dismiss, a reply to the opposition to the motion, two extension motions, the answering brief, and the fee application."
On May 7, 2024, amid Trump's hush money trial, the former president's lawyer Susan Necheles asked Daniels on the stand about the $560,000 payment (via CNN): "You didn’t take any money out of your pocket and pay it to President Trump, did you?"
Daniels said no, after which Necheles asked if Daniels had the money. Daniels replied: "We all have money."
Necheles then asked: "You're choosing not to pay President Trump, right?"
Daniels replied: "I've chosen not to pay while it's still pending, yes."