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Stormy’s Lawsuit Just Became Real

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 16: (L to R) Adult film actress Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) and Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels, speak to the media as they exit the United States District Court Southern Di... NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 16: (L to R) Adult film actress Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) and Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels, speak to the media as they exit the United States District Court Southern District of New York for a hearing related to Michael Cohen, President Trump's longtime personal attorney and confidante, April 16, 2018 in New York City. Cohen and lawyers representing President Trump are asking the court to block Justice Department officials from reading documents and materials related to Cohen's relationship with President Trump that they believe should be protected by attorney-client privilege. Officials with the FBI, armed with a search warrant, raided Cohen's office and two private residences last week. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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May 3, 2018 11:23 a.m.

This was implicit in my earlier post. But I wanted to make the point more explicit. Trump’s tweets this morning made Stormy Daniels’ defamation lawsuit dramatically more viable.

Stormy Daniels is a public figure. She was a public figure all the way back to 2006 when the affair happened and before that. She was certainly a public figure when President Trump made his allegedly defamatory statements. But the earlier statements were general and rather vague – trash talk, if you will. Trump has considerable latitude for trash talk about a public figure. Indeed, one lawyer reader pointed out to me that Daniels’ suit was enough of a stretch that she even had some vulnerability to a successful SLAPP motion. That basically means a counter-claim that it’s a frivolous lawsuit and Daniels’ owes Trump compensation to cover his legal fees.

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