Trump campaign files libel suit against New York Times over Russia story
- Lawsuit alleges that newspaper knowingly published false statements related to investigation of Moscow’s interference in 2016 election
- President has claimed in the past that The Times is biased against him, and called elements of US news media ‘the enemy of the American people’
US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign said on Wednesday it had filed a libel lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the newspaper of intentionally publishing a false story last year related to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
In an escalation of the Republican president’s long-running battle with the news media, campaign officials said the lawsuit was being filed in the New York State Supreme Court, the state’s trial-level court.
A statement from the campaign said the aim of the litigation was to “hold the news organisation accountable for intentionally publishing false statements against President Trump’s campaign”.
The lawsuit relates to a March 27, 2019, opinion article written by Max Frankel, who served as executive editor of The Times from 1986 to 1994.
A draft copy of the suit, attached to a campaign news release, accused the newspaper of “extreme bias against [the campaign] and animosity” and cited what it called The Times’ “exuberance to improperly influence the presidential election in November 2020”. Trump is seeking re-election on November 3.
In a statement, a New York Times spokesperson said: “The Trump Campaign has turned to the courts to try to punish an opinion writer for having an opinion they find unacceptable.
“Fortunately, the law protects the right of Americans to express their judgments and conclusions, especially about events of public importance. We look forward to vindicating that right in this case.”
The newspaper’s spokesperson said it had not been served with the suit and learned about it through media reports.
Trump’s criticism of what he calls liberal bias in the US news media plays well with his conservative political base and often generates applause at his political rallies where his supporters often jeer journalists.
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The opinion piece was headlined “The Real Trump-Russia Quid Pro Quo”, with a subheading adding, “The campaign and the Kremlin had an overarching deal: help beat Hillary Clinton for a new pro-Russian foreign policy.” Quid pro quo is a Latin term meaning a favour in exchange for a favour.
The lawsuit originated with the Trump re-election campaign, but Trump himself has contended The Times has at times been biased against him.
Trump often refers to various news media outlets as “fake news” and has called elements of the US news media “the enemy of the American people”.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller documented Moscow’s campaign of hacking and social media propaganda to boost Trump’s 2016 candidacy and harm his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
It documented numerous contacts between people associated with Trump’s campaign and Russians. Mueller found insufficient evidence to show a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s team and Russia but did not exonerate Trump of obstruction of justice related to the investigation.
In the opinion piece, Frankel stated: “Collusion – or a lack of it – turns out to have been the rhetorical trap that ensnared President Trump’s pursuers.”
Frankel added, “There was no need for detailed electoral collusion between the Trump campaign and Vladimir Putin’s oligarchy because they had an overarching deal: the quid of help in the campaign against Hillary Clinton for the quo of a new pro-Russian foreign policy, starting with relief from the Obama administration’s burdensome economic sanctions.
“The Trumpites knew about the quid and held out the prospect of the quo.”
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In a statement on the lawsuit, Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc, said: “The statements were and are 100 per cent false and defamatory.
“The complaint alleges The Times was aware of the falsity at the time it published them, but did so for the intentional purpose of hurting the campaign, while misleading its own readers in the process.”
In a copy of the lawsuit provided by his re-election team, the campaign stated: “The Times was well aware when it published these statements that they were not true.”
