Trump's Anti-Media Hatred: He Filed Three Major Libel Lawsuits All Without Merit

You media “Enemy of the People — I'm coming full bore”

(He got that right: He is a bore full of it)

Trump is still on his personnel revenge warpath, but now shifts to his other favorite target: The press — most media (that is except FOX of course). He regularly attacks the press, referring at times to them (mostly reporters who are present) as “the enemy of the people.” 

Trump now has filed libel suits targeting an op-ed from The NY Times, one from CNN, and two separate opinion columns in The Washington Post.      

My note: Trump’s lawsuits probably have no merit based on this USSC case law: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), a case involving an Alabama official’s attempt to collect for false statements published in a 1960 civil rights advertisement. The Supreme Court reversed the libel award because the plaintiff had not established that “actual malice” motivated the inaccurate descriptions.

More on this story from The Hill below with key parts (my emphasis) and this headline:

“Trump escalates fight against press with libel lawsuits”

This marks the first time he has sued news organizations as president, and he warned that more were coming.

Reaction is swift and wide, for example from Jonathan Peters, the Columbia Journalism Review's press freedom correspondent and a University of Georgia media law professor told to The Hill: “The concern here is not that one of these suits would win on the merits - it's the chilling effect that it has on public discussion of political affairs.”

FYI: The lawsuits in question were filed in consecutive weeks, and they allege that the outlets knowingly published false information about the president in opinion pieces that touched on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

For example, the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, DC against The Washington Post cites a June 2019 piece from Post opinion writer Paul Waldman wherein Waldman wrote: “The 2020 election will obviously be distinct in all kinds of ways we can't yet anticipate. For instance, who knows what sort of aid Russia and North Korea will give to the Trump campaign, now that he has invited them to offer their assistance?”

Waldman BTW linked his op-ed to the George Stephanopoulos-ABC Oval Office interview with Trump (video of that is here) in which Trump suggested he would accept potentially damaging information from a foreign government about a political opponent if offered – “why not, listening can’t hurt (sic).”

The Trump campaign argues that statement was “defamatory because no Trump associate has made a statement inviting assistance from Russia or North Korea.” The campaign also takes issue with an opinion article that said the Russia probe found Trump's team “tried to conspire with, and happily profited off Moscow's efforts.”

The lawsuit against the Times, filed in New York state court, alleges the paper defamed Trump in a March 2019 op-ed that claimed the president and his associates had an “overarching deal with Russia in 2016.” 

The special counsel report from Robert Mueller did not find evidence to conclude that Trump's campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia in 2016, but did find multiple links between campaign officials and Russian government individuals.

My 2 cents: Let me state right up front that I am NOT a lawyer, but I have studied the law, constitution, and many court cases on libel laws, freedom of speech and the press, and frivolous lawsuits, which BTW Trump is famous or infamous for vis-à-vis suing public officials – he will not win these. 

But it again shows the depth that his man will sink to gain financial fame and public glory – no matter who he libels or bashes along the way; the power of his money I guess? 

About the Trump campaign vis-à-vis Russia in 2016 is well documented. 

Let’s take this well-known example from Trump Jr. and ask: Is that not gaining something of value from a foreign government to interfere in our election – a simple yes or no will suffice – hell yes is the answer – cite this from Jr. remember? 

Full report here from Reuters – recall that Jr. when told a Russian lawyer had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton that would benefit Trump’s campaign, he said, “If what you say is true, I love it.” Not wanting to use foreign help to win (with help from Russian), right? Yeah, right...!!!

One key thing about the Trump’s – all of them: They will do, say, pay, try, lie, or deny anything to blame someone else, and always for their personal financial gain and benefit. 

Trump likes to brag, so how about bragging about this Mr. Trump: Your administration is hands down the worse in American political history — the very worst ever, so congrats. 

Thanks for stopping by.