Former President Donald Trump must pay The New York Times and three of its reporters hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, a...
Former President Donald Trump must pay The New York Times and three of its reporters hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, a judge ordered last week.
The ruling was the latest development in Trump’s $100 million lawsuit accusing the newspaper, its journalists — Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner — and his estranged niece Mary Trump of engaging in an “insidious plot” to obtain his confidential tax information for a series that was published in 2018.
New York Judge Robert Reed, who dismissed the Times and reporters from the suit in May in a judgment citing First Amendment protections, said in an order that a “complexity of issues” warranted Trump cover nearly $400,000 in attorney’s fees, legal expenses, and costs.
Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoads Ha issued a celebratory statement heralding the decision as showing how the expanded anti-SLAPP law in New York can be “a powerful force for protecting press freedom.”
The judge also rejected a request by Mary Trump, who was accused of breaching a settlement agreement by disclosing tax documents, to pause the case while she appeals a June decision that allowed the suit against her to advance.
“While we are disappointed that the NY Times is no longer in this matter, we are pleased that the Court once again affirmed the strength of our claims against Mary and is denying her attempt to avoid accountability,” Trump attorney Alina Habba told CNN. “We look forward to proceeding with our claims against her.”
Trump is facing a flurry of criminal cases and civil litigation as he runs a third campaign for the presidency, seeking a second term in the White House. Despite the legal hurdles, which also include efforts to remove him from the ballot, Trump remains the frontrunner in polls looking at the GOP nomination contest.
When Trump sued his niece, The New York Times, and its reporters in 2021, he accused them of being “motivated by a personal vendetta” against him, according to the Associated Press. Mary Trump filed a counterclaim against her uncle in July, alleging his lawsuit was designed to “chill her and others from criticizing him in the future.”
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