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Judge dismisses Stormy Daniels’s hush money suit against Trump

Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. Photo: Hector Retamal /AFP/Getty Images

A federal judge in California tossed out adult film actress Stormy Daniel's lawsuit on Thursday against President Trump to invalidate the $130,000 nondisclosure agreement she signed in Oct. 2016 demanding she keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump ahead of the 2016 election.

Details: U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero said the case should be sent back to the California Superior Court where it was initially filed, and that it "lacks subject matter jurisdiction," CNN reported.

The backdrop: Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who set up the payment, admitted in federal court that Daniels received the money in exchange for her silence. But Trump denied the alleged 2006 affair.

  • As the case played out in court, Cohen and Trump agreed with Daniels that the nondisclosure agreement would not be enforced. However, Daniels and her attorney, Michael Avenatti, asked the court to rule that the agreement was illegal. They also sought legal fees in the case and a sworn testimony from Trump and Cohen.

What they're saying: Avenatti declared victory in a tweet Thursday night, saying that by dismissing the case, the judge eventually gave his client "everything she asked for in the lawsuit — she won." But he didn't mention the broader goal of the case.

  • Daniels tweeted: "More than a year ago when I was being threatened with a 20 million lawsuit, I asked a judge to toss out this illegal NDA. Glad I stood my ground & kept fighting."
  • Trump attorney Charles Harder called Otero's ruling a "total victory" for the president, per the AP.

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Tech companies are sharing more information with law enforcement in a frantic effort to prevent violence around the inauguration, after the government was caught flat-footed by the Capitol siege.

Between the lines: Tech knows it will be held accountable for any further violence that turns out to have been planned online if it doesn't act to stop it.

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Uganda's election: Museveni declared winner, Wine claims fraud

Wine rejected the official results of the election. Photo: Sumy Sadruni/AFP via Getty

Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner of a sixth presidential term on Saturday, with official results giving him 59% to 35% for Bobi Wine, the singer-turned-opposition leader.

Why it matters: This announcement was predictable, as the election was neither free nor fair and Museveni had no intention of surrendering power after 35 years. But Wine — who posed a strong challenged to Museveni, particularly in urban areas, and was beaten and arrested during the campaign — has said he will present evidence of fraud. The big question is whether he will mobilize mass resistance in the streets.

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Episode 1: A premeditated lie lit the fire

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. Axios takes you inside the collapse of a president with a special series.

Episode 1: Trump’s refusal to believe the election results was premeditated. He had heard about the “red mirage” — the likelihood that early vote counts would tip more Republican than the final tallies — and he decided to exploit it.

"Jared, you call the Murdochs! Jason, you call Sammon and Hemmer!”

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