New York: Former US President Donald Trump to pay nearly $400,000 in legal costs to American daily The New York Times and three investigative reporters after he sued them over a Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 story about his family’s wealth and tax practices. The newspaper and the reporters were dismissed from the lawsuit in May, while the president's lawsuit against his niece Mary Trump for breaching a settlement agreement is 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," said Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoads Ha.
Rhoads Ha was 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," the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, in a separate ruling, 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. Donald Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said they remain disappointed that the Times and its reporters were dropped from the case.
However, she also 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.
What is the case about?
In 2021, former President Trump 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 report claimed that the ex-President and his father avoided gift and inheritance tax through various methods such as setting up a sham cooperation and undervaluing assets to tax authorities. The data was collected through over 100,000 pages of financial documents, including Fred Trump and his companies' confidential tax returns.
Donald Trump accused the newspaper and his niece Mary of being motivated by a personal vendetta and demanded $100 million in damages. He also accused them of engaging “in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly sensitive records which they exploited for their own benefit.”
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.”
Trump is currently in the midst of a civil fraud trial that threatens his business empire, as New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking to ban Trump from the state's real estate industry and force nearly $370 million in penalties for allegedly manipulating the value of his properties to win better financing terms. Justice Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his company engaged in fraud.
(with inputs from AP)
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