Donald Trump took to his Twitter account on Tuesday morning to celebrate the dismissal of Stormy Daniels’ defamation lawsuit against him—insulting Daniels by referring to her as “horseface” and promising to “go after” her and, in an apparent reference to Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti, her “3rd rate lawyer.”
In April, Daniels and Avenatti filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump, over a statement he made on Twitter in which he called Daniels’ claim that she had been physically threatened by a man invoking Trump’s name “a total con job.” Trump also said in the tweet that a man depicted in a forensic sketch was “nonexistent.”
On Monday, a federal judge in Los Angeles threw out Daniels’ defamation case, and ruled that Trump was entitled to receive reimbursement for his attorney’s fees from Daniels. Judge S. James Otero said that Trump’s statements in his April 18 Twitter post constituted “the definition of protected rhetorical hyperbole,” and were therefore permissible under the First Amendment.
In his Tuesday Tweet gloating about the court victory, Trump said, “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!” He also misspelled Daniels’ name as “Danials” in the tweet.
Daniels herself quickly responded on her own Twitter account, referring back to her description of Trump’s penis as smaller than average and strangely mushroom-shaped, a description that appeared in her book Full Disclosure.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present your president,” Daniels wrote. “In addition to his...umm...shortcomings, he has demonstrated his incompetence, hatred of women and lack of self control on Twitter AGAIN! And perhaps a penchant for bestiality. Game on, Tiny.”
Avenatti also quickly responded to Trump via Twitter.
“You are a disgusting misogynist and an embarrassment to the United States,” the lawyer wrote. “Bring everything you have, because we are going to demonstrate to the world what a complete shyster and liar you are. How many other women did you cheat on your wife with while you had a baby at home?”
While Trump’s lawyer Charles Harder hailed Otero’s decision as a “total victory” for Trump, Avenatti issued a statement calling Harder’s claim “an outright lie.” Avenatti in his statement noted that Daniels’ lawsuit against Trump and his former “fixer” Michael Cohen over a “hush” agreement silencing her about her sexual ancounter with Trump remains active.
He also noted that Cohen pled guilty to a federal felony over the $130,000 in hush money paid to Daniels, and stated in federal court that Trump ordered him to make the payment, as AVN reported.
Avenatti also said that he had already appealed Otero’s decision to the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco, and was “confident” that it would be overturned.
Photo by Dan Scavino - The White House/Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
