Stormy Daniels ordered to pay Donald Trump $293,000 in legal fees

Adult film star ordered to pay a portion of the president's legal fees in connection with her dismissed defamation suit

Stormy Daniels has been ordered to pay President Donald Trump $293,052 (£235,000) in attorneys’ fees as their legal battles continue – far less than the $800,000 requested by his legal team.

The adult film star will also have to pay Mr Trump another $1,000 in sanctions, a federal judge ruled, in connection with her dismissed defamation suit against the president.

Mr Trump’s lawyer, Charles Harder, said the sanctions are for Daniels having filed a “meritless” defamation action against the president.

The initial defamation lawsuit came in response to one of Trump’s tweets, which questioned her claim that she was menaced by a man who wanted to keep her quiet about a sexual experience with the president.

Mr Trump had wrote: “A sketch years later about a non-existent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!”

But the judge said the tweet was protected by the First Amendment as ”rhetorical hyperbole.”

Mr Trump was billed $841.64 per hour in the case by Mr Harder. The other lawyers for the president charged fees ranging from $307.60 per hour up to $756.49 per hour.

Mr Harder said: “The court’s order, along with the court’s prior order dismissing Stormy Daniels’ defamation case against the president, together constitute a total victory for the president, and a total defeat for Stormy Daniels in this case.”

Ms Daniels’s lawyer Michael Avenatti told CNBC: “Harder and Trump deserve each other because they are both dishonest. They received less than one half what they asked for because the request was gross and excessive.”