(UnitedHeadlines.com) – On Jan. 12, former President Donald Trump was ordered by New York Judge Robert Reed to pay The New York Times, along with three of the newspaper’s reporters, close to $400,000 in attorney’s fees, legal expenses, and costs due to a “complexity of issues.”
The ruling is the latest in Trump’s $100 million lawsuit filed in 2021 against the New York Times, its reporters, David Barstow, Russell Buettner and Susanne Craig, and Mary Trump, his estranged niece, of being involved in an “insidious plot” in 2018 to get Trump’s confidential tax information. According to the lawsuit, Mary Trump breached a settlement agreement by disclosing 100,000 pages of tax documents.
The information was used for a New York Times series and in a book. The New York Times series focused on his father, Fred Trump, and at least $413 million given to the former president over the decades.
When he filed the lawsuit, Trump stated they were all “motivated by a personal vendetta” against him.
In May, Reed ruled that because they were protected by the First Amendment, the Times and its reporters should be dismissed from the lawsuit.
In June, the judge ruled that the lawsuit against Mary Trump could continue. In July, she filed a countersuit under New York’s anti-SLAPP law, which bars baseless lawsuits designed to silence critics, against the former president. She claims his lawsuit is “purely retaliatory,” adding that it lacks merit.” On Jan. 12, the judge rejected her request to pause the case while she appeals the June ruling.
In response to the ruling, Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha stated the newly rewritten anti-SLAPP statute is “a powerful force for protecting” freedom of the press.
While the former president’s attorney, Alina Habba, said they are “disappointed” the paper and its reporters were dismissed from the lawsuit, “they are pleased” the claims against Mary Trump are continuing.
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