Trump’s lawsuit against the New York Times thrown out by judge

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Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the New York Times was dismissed by a New York Supreme Court judge on Wednesday, with the former president ordered to pay all attorney fees, other legal costs and related expenses. .

Trump, who has faced numerous legal battles, filed a $100 million lawsuit in 2021, alleging that the Times and his niece, Mary Trump, collaborated in a fraudulent scheme to secure his records of tax for a story on his tax issues, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. The lawsuit claims that the contacts between the three Times reporters and his nephew led to a contractual breach of a 2001 family confidentiality agreement.

New York Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed said Wednesday that Trump’s claims fail as a matter of constitutional law.

Courts have long recognized that journalists have the right to engage in legal and ordinary news-gathering activities without fear of tort liability, the judge said.

The New York Times is pleased with the judges’ decision today, Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesman for the Times, said in a statement. This is an important precedent that reaffirms that the press is protected when it engages in routine news gathering to obtain information of public importance.

There has been no ruling on the charge against Trump’s nephew, who has acknowledged that he was the primary source for the Times story.

We are glad that the court reached the right decision dismissing the frivolous case of Mr. Trump against The NY Times and its reporters, said Theodore Boutrous Jr., the attorney representing Mary Trump. We are confident that the court will also protect Ms. Trump exercising his First Amendment rights.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The former president threatened to sue the New York Times shortly after the story was published in the newspapers. His lawyer, Charles Harder, said the Times would expose itself to significant liability and damages for defamation if it stated or implied Trump engaged in fraud, tax evasion or other more crimes.

But legal experts say Trump is unlikely to win such a claim. He will be required in the discovery process to share private financial information that he is reluctant to disclose.

Trump has threatened to sue news organizations, including The Washington Post, for decades. But he didn’t follow through on all occasions. He hasn’t seen much success from such lawsuits, either, as the courts have dismissed many of his claims.

For example, defamation lawsuits Harder filed on behalf of Trumps campaign against CNN and the New York Times were dismissed by courts in late 2020 and early 2021, respectively. Both lawsuits center on opinion columns linking Trump and his 2016 presidential bid to Russian interference in both election years.

Similarly, in 2022, the board that oversees the Pulitzer Prizes rejected Trumps request to revoke the 2018 prizes won by The Post and the New York Times for their reporting on his campaign and his administrations allegedly connected to Russian election meddling in 2016. Trump has challenged the awards on three occasions, arguing that the articles included false reporting of a non-existent link between the Kremlin and of the Trump Campaign.

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