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Calif. court orders Trump to pay Stormy Daniels’s legal fees

August 22, 2020 at 6:12 p.m. EDT
CALIFORNIA

Trump ordered to pay Stormy Daniels's fees

A California court ordered President Trump to pay Stephanie Clifford, the adult-film actress known as Stormy Daniels, $44,100 to cover her legal fees stemming from a dispute over a nondisclosure agreement.

The Superior Court of California in Los Angeles ruled that Clifford was the prevailing party in the dispute and therefore won the right to have her legal fees paid by Trump, according to a copy of the ruling, dated Aug. 17, posted by the court and by Clifford’s lawyer.

White House officials and lawyers for Trump didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The dispute involved a nondisclosure agreement Clifford signed in 2016 in exchange for a $130,000 payment from Trump’s personal lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen. The agreement prevented Clifford from speaking about an affair she says she and Trump had from 2006 to 2007. Trump has denied the affair.

Cohen said in court that he was reimbursed by the Trump Organization for the payment, and that Trump knew about it.

— Jeanne Whalen, Seung Min Kim

MICHIGAN

Body of firefighter who aided girls found

Crews on Saturday recovered the body of a Detroit firefighter who vanished into the Detroit River while helping save some girls from drowning a day earlier, authorities said.

Detroit Fire Sgt. Sivad Johnson’s body was pulled from the river Saturday afternoon after a six-hour search, said Dave Fornell, deputy commissioner of the Detroit Fire Department. The body was found not far from Belle Isle, he said.

Johnson was off duty and walking with his 10-year-old daughter Friday night near the Detroit Yacht Club when they heard three young girls screaming for help from the water, Fornell said.

Johnson, a 26-year veteran of the Detroit Fire Department, jumped in to help, while a civilian and a nearby boat also assisted, he said.

Fornell said that one of the girls was rescued by the civilian and the boat picked up the other two. After the rescue, Johnson’s daughter realized he was missing and called 911, authorities said.

— Associated Press

2 bodies found, 2 missing after Texas blast: The bodies of two missing crew members of a dredging boat were found Saturday after an explosion a day earlier in the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Two other crew members of the dredging vessel Waymon L Boyd remain missing, the Coast Guard said. The explosion happened at about 8 a.m. Friday when the vessel struck a submerged natural gas pipeline, authorities said.

N.Y. mom of 3 fatally shot outside school: Police said a 25-year-old Bronx mother of three was fatally shot early Saturday. Officers responding to reports of an assault at East 152nd Street near Public School 1 at about 5:30 a.m. arrived to find Priscilla Vasquez with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A gunman allegedly was seen running from the scene wearing a black hoodie and a white surgical mask.

— From news services