Porn star Stormy Daniels is ready to face her first legal loss against President Trump, CNN reports.
Daniels is suing Trump for defamation for a tweet he posted about her, saying she was playing “fake news media for fools.” Daniels has said she was paid during the 2016 campaign to keep quiet about an affair she had with Trump in 2006.
Judge S. James Otero said in U.S. District Court that the comments made by the president were “rhetorical hyperbole” and well within the bounds of free speech, protected under the First Amendment.
Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti disagreed with the judge’s opinion.
According to CNN:
Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, vigorously disagreed and told the court that he could prove that Trump acted with malice toward his client.
One of Daniels’ other attorneys told the judge Trump’s tweet was “a false statement of fact and we intend to prove that it’s a false statement of fact.”
Avenatti has promised to keep the case alive. Avenatti, who is a regular on MSNBC and CNN, has weighed challenging Trump in the 2020 presidential race and has released policy papers and visited Iowa. Avenatti pledged to get testimony from Trump about the gag order on Stormy Daniels.