Trump Has To Pay $392k For His NY Times SLAPP Suit
from the pay-up-donald dept
I mean, there was no way not to see this coming. Last year we wrote about how Trump had lost his vexatious lawsuit against the NY Times regarding its interactions with his niece, Mary Trump. Mary had leaked some tax documents to the NY Times, and Trump sued the Times, arguing (laughably) that this constituted tortious interference.
No, as we expected, it represented Trump doing what he often seems to love to do: filing bogus SLAPP suits to try to silence the press. This not the only Trump lawsuit against the NY Times (or other publications).
But, as we noted back in May of last year when this lawsuit was tossed out, NY Judge Robert R. Reed applied NY’s anti-SLAPP law to the case, meaning that Trump would be on the hook for the legal fees of the NY Times. It took some time, but last week Judge Reed said Trump needs to pay $392,638.69 in legal fees.
Not surprisingly, Trump had opposed the awarding of any legal fees, or said they should be substantially cut down from the requested amounts. That… didn’t work so well.
Considering the complexity of the issues presented in this action, the number of causes of action, the experience, ability and reputation of the defendants’ attorneys, the considerable amount in dispute, and the attorneys’ success in dismissing the complaint against their defendants… the court finds that $392,638.69 is a reasonable value for the legal services rendered.
Of course, who is Trump to complain? After all, he won $293,052.33 in an anti-SLAPP judgment based on a (yes, dumb) SLAPP defamation lawsuit that Stormy Daniels filed against him.
That’s no excuse for him to go around filing more SLAPPs of his own. One would hope that being on the other side of a SLAPP suit might teach him not to keep filing them himself, but no such luck.
Still, this is yet another example of the importance of anti-SLAPP laws. NY has a good one, but we need strong such laws not just in every state, but we need a federal anti-SLAPP law to guarantee these kinds of protections can be used everywhere in the country and in every court. Anti-SLAPP laws are fundamental to making sure that the 1st Amendment actually functions.
Filed Under: anti-slapp, donald trump, mary trump, slapp
Companies: ny times
Comments on “Trump Has To Pay $392k For His NY Times SLAPP Suit”
What with the criminal trial in Georgia, the Civil Fraud trial in New York, and the documents case in Florida, he just doesn’t have the time to file any more frivolous cases. You have to pick your battles, you know. If it won’t result in his name getting center stage in the “Lamestream Media”, he can’t find time for it anymore.
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You know…
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Get some rest. If you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.
🙂
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“I’m swamped!”
That needs some draining! 😉
Trump just existing is worth infinimoney and endless power. Hard work by any other people? Pffff.
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Sounds fair.
I don’t mind powerful people and institutions crushing trouble-making little people when they can get away with it, but if they go that route and fail to get away with it, the least they can do is pay up.
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*But in this case it galls me to see a wealthy, powerful, pro-regime propaganda outlet like the NY Times able to unjustly collect from a patriotic U.S. citizen who’s fighting for all of us.
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ok trumper loser
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Woosh!
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I think this might be a case of Poe’s Law
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Nah, fuck him anyway.
Correction: Trump’s Donors Have To Pay $392k For His NY Times SLAPP Suit.
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Breaking News: Trump Proposes Replacing DC Swamp With Supersized Blood-Sucking Leech
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Well, the Wetlands are actually good for the climate and the environment in that they absorb water. When Trump wants to “drain the swamp” he’s actually saying he wants to destroy the wetlands that keep dry land from being flooded.
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Draining the swamp will also do nothing to help the cost of living in DC.
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In other words, his 2024 presidential campaign.