Trump scores win over Stormy Daniels' libel suit

Source: Politico

Trump scores win over Stormy Daniels' libel suit
An appeals court the president often pillories hands him victory over a prominent foe

By JOSH GERSTEIN

07/31/2020 03:56 PM EDT

President Donald Trump scored a legal victory Friday as a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling tossing out a libel lawsuit filed against him by adult film star Stormy Daniels over a tweet Trump fired off about her in 2018.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals accepted arguments by Trump’s lawyers that he was merely offering his opinion and not leveling any factual claims of his own when he issued the tweet casting doubt on her claims that she faced intimidation as she prepared to go public with allegations that she and Trump had a sexual encounter.

A three-judge panel unanimously ruled that Trump’s tweet amounted to an opinion about another Twitter user’s message suggesting that a sketch Daniels helped prepare of a man who allegedly intimidated her in a casino parking lot looked much like a photo of Daniels’ ex-husband.

“A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!” Trump commented as he retweeted a earlier message containing the two images.

The 9th Circuit judges said that was not enough to the sustain the suit in which Daniels — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — accused Trump of damaging her reputation by painting her as a liar.

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Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/31/trump-stormy-daniels-libel-suit-389765