Former Miss PA USA Sheena Monnin Ordered to Pay Trump $5 Million—Again

Former Miss Pennsylvania USA Sheena Monnin has been ordered to pay media mogul Donald Trump $5 million in a defamation case—again.

On Wednesday a federal judge upheld an arbitrator’s decision that Monnin, of Cranberry, would have to pay up after she accused the Miss USA pageant of being rigged.

The beauty queen made national headlines last June after she resigned as Miss Pennsylvania USA just days after the televised Miss USA 2012 pageant took place. She then made a series of statements on her Facebook page that said the pageant was fixed.

Trump, co-owner of the Miss Universe organization, which runs the Miss USA pageant, took immediate legal action.

In an arbitration decision in December, a retired US District Court Magistrate awarded the Miss Universe Organization $5 million in damages, ruling that Monnin defamed the organization.

Monnin appealed the decision.

In a 30-page opinion upholding the ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken wrote in that “The Court does not take lightly that Monnin is compelled to pay what is a devastating monetary award. ... Sympathy, or apparent inequity, may play no role in a court's legal analysis.”
Monnin on Thursday responded to the ruling, saying she was “hopeful for a different outcome,” but that she was “pleased that the true nature of the Miss USA judging procedure has been exposed.”

She claimed testimony for the organization revealed the pageant selects the top 15 contestants, “irrespective of the preliminary judges’ scores.

This is not about me being a ‘sore loser’ or wanting my ’15 minutes of fame,’ Monnin, who failed to place in the top 15 contestants, wrote in a statement on her Facebook page. “This is about the MUO’s admission under oath that they manipulate the judges’ results to suit their own ends. This is not what they advertise to the public.”

She also answered the question of whether her statements were worth the $5 million judgment.

“Standing on truth has cost me much, but now the public knows that the MUO does in fact exercise Paragraph 3 of the Miss USA Contract – the paragraph that gives them the right to make contestant selections during the pageant,” she said.

She added a federal investigator contacted her wanting to interview her about possible fraudulent activities by the organization.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Michael D. Cohen, executive vice president and special counsel to Trump, responded to Monnin’s Facebook statements.

“We applaud the judge's very articulate 30-page decision and will pursue all rights available to Mr. Trump under the law,” Cohen said. “I respectfully disagree with every statement made by Ms. Monnin in her most recent posting. One would think she would be very mindful of any future comments in light of this most recent decision.”

Monnin, who said the decision, would financially devastate her, also pleaded for help in paying her mounting legal fees through her “Sheena Monnin Legal Defense Fund.”

“The legal fees for standing for truth amount to over $50,000,” she said. “I still need to raise money for my legal defense fund. I would greatly appreciate any and all donations.”

 Donations to the fun may be made atwww.sheenamonninlegaldefensefund.org