Stormy Daniels Has Raised $232,000 With Help From Jimmy Kimmel

Stormy Daniels (a/k/a Stephanie Clifford) has a very well-publicized and ongoing legal battle with multi-billionaire President of the United States Donald J. Trump.

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To represent her, Daniels has hired one of the most high-profile (and expensive) lawyers in the United States, Michael Avenatti.  She has been making money from her newfound fame as a Trump accuser, but that might not be enough to pay for all of her extensive legal bills.

To defray these legal bills she is using a method to raise money that has become very popular on the internet — “crowdfunding.” Just a few days ago Daniels set up a page at the CrowdJustice website which as of 9:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday had over $232,000 in it.

On her fundraising page Daniels wrote the following explanation for what she is doing: “I am attempting to speak honestly and openly to the American people about my relationship with now President Donald Trump and the intimidation and tactics used against me.”

With respect to how this money will be used, she says it “will go toward attorneys’ fees; out-of-pocket costs associated with the lawsuit, arbitration, and my right to speak openly; security expenses; and damages that may be awarded against me if I speak out and ultimately lose to Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen.”  (Michael Cohen is the attorney representing Donald Trump in his legal dispute with Daniels.)

In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Avenatti was quoted as saying  “We want a forum for her to tell her story to the American people, without a threat of being sued for millions of dollars.”

In his Thursday late-night show TV host Jimmy Kimmel gave a boost to Daniels’ fundraising goals when he said that making a donation to her legal would would be “act of patriotism.”

“I never thought giving money to a porn star would be considered an act of patriotism, but then again I never thought a guy who got into a Twitter war with Cher would become president,” Kimmel said during his show, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’

“And remember, every dollar you donate potentially brings us one step closer to seeing photos that will haunt our dreams forever,” he added.

Daniels is suing Trump and Cohen in her attempt to get a court to declare that a nondisclosure agreement she signed is invalid.  The agreement prevents her from speaking in public about her affair with the president in 2006 and 2007. Trump and Cohen on Friday filed a claim against Daniels saying she had violated the agreement and asking for $20 million in damages.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.