Stormy Daniels' Lawyer Michael Avenatti Appeals Trump Defamation Lawsuit Dismissal

Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels’ attorney, announced that an appeal was filed Monday, hours after a California federal judge dismissed the adult film star’s defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump.

"Here is the Notice of Appeal we just filed with the Ninth Circuit relating to the defamation claim against Trump. His record before the Ninth Circuit has been anything but good," Avenatti tweeted Monday evening.

Daniels, who claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump more than a decade ago, sued the president after he tweeted in April that her story of a man threatening her at a Las Vegas parking lot to not come forward with her story of her alleged affair with him was "a total con job."

Trump's legal team used a freedom-of-speech defense during Monday’s trial and James Otero, a federal judge in the central district of California, agreed to it by saying "The Court agrees with Mr. Trump's argument because the tweet in question constitutes 'rhetorical hyperbole' normally associated with politics and public discourse in the United States. The First Amendment protects this type of rhetorical statement," CNN reported.

"Any strongly-worded response by a president to another politician or public figure could constitute an action for defamation. This would deprive the country of the ‘discourse’ common to the political process,” Otero wrote in his opinion, ABC News reported.

The ruling also stated that the porn star must pay Trump's legal fees. Avenatti responded to this ruling by tweeting, “Be clear — even assuming Trump is owed attys fees from the defamation case (if he wins the appeal), they will be dwarfed by the fees he and Cohen will be required to pay in connection with the NDA case. Not even close. Yet more 'winning' from Trump.”

"No amount of spin or commentary by Stormy Daniels or her lawyer, Mr. Avenatti, can truthfully characterize today's ruling in any way other than total victory for President Trump and total defeat for Stormy Daniels. The amount of the award for President Trump's attorneys' fees will be determined at a later date," Trump's attorney Charles J. Harder said.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is also suing Trump and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen over the $130,000 payment made to her to keep mum about the alleged encounter with Trump in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The case continues to work its way through the court system and Monday’s ruling had no role in that case.

"Daniels' other claims against Trump and Cohen proceed unaffected. Trump's contrary claims are as deceptive as his claims about the inauguration attendance,” Avenatti tweeted.