LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “A federal judge on Tuesday [12-11-18] ordered the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to pay President Trump about $293,000 in legal fees and sanctions after her defamation suit against him was dismissed. Mr. Trump’s lawyers had requested about $389,000 in legal fees, but the judge, S. James Otero of United States District Court in California, said the number of billable hours was ‘excessive’ and cut the amount by 25 percent to about $292,000. Writing that Ms. Daniels ‘is already being deterred from filing meritless defamation claims,’ Judge Otero ordered her to pay $1,000 in sanctions…The judge’s order is intended to close out a defamation suit that had alleged that Mr. Trump defamed Ms. Daniels on Twitter last spring. The tweet in question was posted by the president on April 18, one day after Ms. Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, posted a sketch of a man who, she alleged, threatened her in 2011 as she was first considering speaking out about the affair she said she had with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump called the sketch ‘a total con job,’ depicting ‘a nonexistent man.’”
–Matt Stevens, “Stormy Daniels Ordered to Pay Trump $293,000 in Legal Fees,” The New York Times online, December 11, 2018