Judge orders Trump to pay The New York Times nearly $400k in legal fees
By: MICHAEL R. SISAK (AP News)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
By MICHAEL R. SISAK Share Share
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump was ordered Friday to pay nearly $400,000 in legal fees to The New York Times and three investigative reporters after he sued them unsuccessfully over a Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 story about his family's wealth and tax practices.
The newspaper and reporters Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner were dismissed from the lawsuit in May. Trump's claim against his estranged niece, Mary Trump, that she breached a prior settlement agreement by giving tax records to the reporters is still pending.
New York Judge Robert Reed said that given the "complexity of the issues" in the case and other factors, it was reasonable that Donald Trump be forced to pay lawyers for the Times and the reporters a total of $392,638 in legal fees.
"Today's decision shows that the state's newly amended anti-SLAPP statute can be a powerful force for protecting press freedom," Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoads Ha said, referring to a New York law that bars baseless lawsuits designed to silence critics. Such lawsuits are known as SLAPPs or strategic lawsuits against public participation.
"The court has sent a message to those who want to misuse the judicial system to try to silence journalists," Rhoads Ha said.
In a separate ruling Friday, Reed denied a request by Mary Trump - now the sole defendant - that the case be put on hold while she appeals his June decision that allowed Donald Trump's claim against her to proceed.
Mary Trump's lawyers declined comment.
Donald Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, said they remain disappointed that the Times and its reporters were dropped from the case. She said they are pleased that the court has "once again affirmed the strength of our claims against Mary and is denying her attempt to avoid accountability."
"We look forward to proceeding with our claims against her," Habba said.
Donald Trump's lawsuit, filed in 2021, accused the Times and its reporters of relentlessly seeking out Mary Trump as a source of information and convincing her to turn over confidential tax records. He claimed the reporters were aware her prior settlement agreement barred her from disclosing the documents, which she'd received in a dispute over family patriarch Fred Trump's estate.
The Times' reporting challenged Donald Trump's claims of self-made wealth by documenting how his father, Fred Trump, had given him at least $413 million over the decades, including through tax avoidance schemes. Mary Trump identified herself in a book published in 2020 as the source of the documents.
The Times' story said that Donald Trump and his father avoided gift and inheritance taxes by methods including setting up a sham corporation and undervaluing assets to tax authorities. The Times says its report was based on more than 100,000 pages of financial documents, including confidential tax returns for the father and his companies.
Donald Trump, who sought $100 million in damages, alleged Mary Trump, the Times and the reporters "were motivated by a personal vendetta" against him. He accused them of engaging "in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly sensitive records which they exploited for their own benefit."
In dismissing the Times and its reporters from the lawsuit, Reed wrote that legal news gathering is "at the very core of protected First Amendment activity."
Mary Trump, 58, is the daughter of Donald Trump's brother, Fred Trump Jr., who died in 1981 at age 42. She is an outspoken critic of her uncle, whom she has regarded as "criminal, cruel and traitorous."
In July, Mary Trump filed a counterclaim against Donald Trump under New York's anti-SLAPP law, arguing that Donald Trump's lawsuit was "purely retaliatory and lacking in merit" and intended to "chill her and others from criticizing him in the future."
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Another lawsuit where Biden attacks his political opponent.
Smirk
"... the likes of which have never been seen before."
If Trump actually ever paid his lawyer bills he would be broke yesterday.
"everybody was amazed"
It is a simple game: Try and convict Trump of something before the election. Any appeal won't be resolved until after the election.
This is not a game. Trump has been indicted for cause; in particular for his actions while PotUS. This is a serious matter based on serious wrongdoings by Trump.
He has already lost court battles so that bar has already been passed.
And there is a sense of urgency because if Trump is elected PotUS there is a real question about him using the presidency to stop the process.
Unfortunately, it is.
When a PotUS violates his oath of office by trying to circumvent the CotUS and counter the foundation of democracy — the vote of the electorate — holding him accountable is not a game.
What is unfortunate (tragic, really) are those who pretend Trump is an innocent victim.
well if your examples of a game included Russian Roulette, perhaps it could be viewed as a game, not one that many round here might wish to play though
Wow. Who would've thought someone could remain wealthy after starting out with such a measly inheritance...?
Everybody is out to get Trump. Trump is a victim; never before has there been a victim like Trump. Poor guy just cannot be left alone to make an honest living without all these bad, mean, ugly people abusing the US legal system to attack and discredit him.
Gosh, TiG, You sound really close to posting a meme...
Pretty sure Trump has never made an honest living.
You forgot the /S tag.
Trump is notorious for abusing the legal system. For him to claim victimhood is the height of hypocrisy. Unfortunately his followers are quickly becoming cult followers and there is no reasoning with them.
that train left the station years ago...
Only 13?
Hmmmm...
the dumbass has spent his life squandering his ill gotten inheritance ...
I think he has spent his life scamming people.
that was just a hobby...
like his marriages...
he'll burn it all down, and his kids too, before surrendering a dime...
“…he'll burn it all down…”
By his own admission. But he is the one that will go down in flames.
Retribution does not a platform for change, for our collective betterment, or for basic humanity make.
those that threaten retribution invite it for themselves.
I hope the plaintiffs aren't foolish enough to accept a check, cashiers or not.
the asking price just went up on all that classified material he's still got stashed away...
... in ivana's casket, buried in new jersey.
... while she's in an urn on a mantle somewhere.
... in NYC.
...in some hoarder's rent controlled apartment with 373 other urns.
Good.