Stormy Daniels owes Trump $600K but no one’s talking about it

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: In a legal saga that has largely escaped media attention, Stormy Daniels, who alleged a sexual encounter with former president Donald Trump, remains indebted to him for over $600,000.

However, the talking heads in the mainstream press appear to have largely ignored the story.

Stormy Daniels ordered to pay legal fees

The culmination of this legal battle came in March 2022 when the 9th Circuit Court handed down its final ruling on a case initiated by Daniels and her attorney at the time, Michael Avenatti.

The court upheld a lower court's decision, affirming that Daniels owed Trump approximately $300,000 in legal fees, costs, and sanctions. This figure swelled beyond $600,000 after Daniels was further ordered to pay an additional $121,972 in legal fees in 2023.

Trump celebrated the court's decision at the time.

“The 9th Circuit just issued a final ruling in the Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) frivolous lawsuit case against me brought by her disgraced lawyer, Michael Avenatti, upholding the lower court ruling that she owes me nearly $300,000 in attorney fees, costs, and sanctions (not including appeal costs),” Trump said in a statement after the verdict.

“As I have stated many times throughout the years, I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I ever have wanted to. The ruling was a total and complete victory and vindication for, and of me,” he continued.

“The lawsuit was a purely political stunt that never should have been started, or allowed to happen, and I am pleased that my lawyers were able to bring it to a successful conclusion after the court fully rejected her appeal,” he said, before adding. “Now all I have to do is wait for all of the money she owes me.”

Trump's attorney Harmeet Dhillion also celebrated the legal victory. "Collectively, our firm obtained over $600,000 in attorney fee awards in his favor in the meritless litigation initiated by Stormy Daniels," she tweeted at the time.

Last month, Dhillon said that Daniels' outstanding debt to Trump remains unpaid. "All the monies owed by [Daniels] are still outstanding," Dhillon told Newsweek in a statement.

However, Daniels has vehemently refused to settle her debt, asserting in the past that she would "go to jail before I pay a penny" to Trump. Her legal battles against the former president stem from allegations of a sexual encounter in 2006, which she claims Trump's attorney paid her to keep quiet about ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

One of the key incidents that sparked the legal dispute was a tweet by Trump mocking Daniels' claims of being threatened in 2011, which she alleged was related to her allegations against Trump.

The subsequent lawsuit filed by Daniels was dismissed by a federal judge in 2018, with Daniels ordered to pay Trump's legal fees. Despite her appeals, including one to the 9th Circuit Court, the rulings have consistently favored Trump.

Falling out with Avenatti

Stormy Daniels has maintained that her case against Donald Trump was not solely about the alleged affair but rather about Trump's defamation through his social media posts.

She has previously criticized her former attorney, Avenatti, who was found guilty in 2022 of aggravated identity theft and wire fraud in connection with stealing $300,000 from her.

“Trump won yesterday ON A TECHNICALITY due to Avenatti’s failure to file promptly. That technical ruling, although distressing, does not reflect on anything I have done or my credibility but is the result of negligence of a criminal lawyer, Michael Avenatti,” Daniels added in her statement.

She has previously admitted to harboring more anger toward Avenatti than Trump. 

“I only met Trump a handful of times, not even. I didn’t consider him to be a friend,” Daniels said. “Michael Avenatti betrayed my trust in every way possible. He lied to my face. He lied about me. He put me on a stand for five and a half hours and called me names,” she added.

That said, Avenatti was extremely critical of his former client in a recent interview with the New York Post, even warning New York City prosecutors that he expected her to commit perjury if she's called in as a witness against Trump.

“Stormy Daniels is going to say whatever she believes is going to assist Stormy Daniels and putting more money in her pocket,” Avenatti said. “If Stormy Daniels' lips are moving, she’s lying for money,” he added.

The disgraced lawyer declared that she would be a poor witness, citing her past claims of communicating with dead people and her purported possession of a “haunted” doll named Susan.

“I don’t know how you can possibly put someone who makes those claims on the witness stand and use them as a star witness in a case against a former president United States who’s running for president. That is just absolutely ludicrous to me," Avenatti added.