Donald Trump

Trump Insults Stormy Daniels' Looks After Winning Defamation Case; Daniels Fires Back

Daniels said Trump's tweet again "demonstrated his incompetence, hatred of women and lack of self control on Twitter"

President Donald Trump called Stormy Daniels a "horseface" Tuesday as he touted his victory in the porn actress' defamation lawsuit, prompting Daniels to fire back that he lacks self control and her lawyer to attack the president as a "misogynist."

A judge on Monday had dismissed Daniels' suit, saying the comment she sued over was protected under the First Amendment. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, sued Trump in April after he said a composite sketch of a man she said threatened her in 2011 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with the real estate mogul was a "con job."

Trump hailed the judge's decision in a tweet on Tuesday, misspelling Daniels' name and adding, "Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas. She will confirm the letter she signed! She knows nothing about me, a total con!"

On Twitter, Daniels retorted, "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present your president."

She argued Trump's tweet again "demonstrated his incompetence, hatred of women and lack of self control on Twitter" and mocked Trump's "shortcomings" with barely veiled insinuations about his body parts, something she wrote about in her book about their alleged affair, which Trump denies. Her insulting nickname: Tiny.

When asked by the Associated Press hours later if it was appropriate to insult a woman's appearance, Trump responded, "You can take it any way you want."

Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, replied to Trump that he is a "disgusting misogynist and an embarrassment to the United States" and welcomed the new legal challenge.

In his ruling in the defamation case, which Avenatti has vowed to appeal, U.S. District Judge S. James Otero said Trump's statement was protected speech and that preventing "Trump from engaging in this type of 'rhetorical hyperbole' against a political adversary" would hamper his office.

The judge's ruling entitles Trump to collect attorneys' fees from Daniels, but the amount that Daniels would need to pay will be determined later, Trump attorney Charles Harder said.

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The defamation claim is separate from another lawsuit that Daniels filed against Trump, which is continuing. Daniels was paid $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement signed days before the 2016 election and is suing to dissolve that contract. Daniels has argued the agreement should be invalidated because Trump's then-personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, signed it, but Trump did not.

Lawyers for Trump and Cohen now say the deal that paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet was invalid, and they won't sue her for breaking it. Trump's attorney said the president never considered himself as a party to the agreement and doesn't dispute Daniels' assertion that the contract isn't valid.

While Trump and Cohen want the court to toss out the litigation as moot, Daniels' lawyer wants to keep the case alive, hoping to compel Trump to answer questions under oath about what he may have known about the deal.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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