On Thursday, November 14, just days before the presidential election, Edward Paltzik, the lawyer for Donald Trump, sent a legal letter to The New York Times and Penguin Random House, demanding 10 billion dollars in compensation for allegedly defamatory articles against Trump. The letter accused authors Peter Baker, Michael S Schmidt, Susanne Craig, and Russ Buettner of making “false and defamatory statements” about Trump, and labeled The New York Times as a “Democratic Party mouthpiece” engaging in “extensive defamation” against political opponents.
The letter listed the allegedly defamatory articles and books, including two articles co-authored by Buettner and Craig and the book published in September titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success,” as well as Baker’s article “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment” from October 20, and Schmidt’s article “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator” from October 22.
The letter also accused The New York Times of “deliberately defaming and disparaging the globally known Trump brand,” which consumers have long associated with excellence, luxury, and success in various industries such as entertainment, hotels, and real estate, and making false and malicious defamation against him as a candidate for the highest office in the United States.
According to the letter, “Based on President Trump’s and his family’s well-known long history of commercial achievements, President Trump’s outstanding achievements in business, literature, media, and real estate, as well as his life story embodying the American dream, the patriotism of America, and his lifelong support for American soldiers, the falsity of these defamatory statements is even more despicable.”
The letter also listed Trump’s “establishment, reformation, and revitalization” of fifty “enterprises, projects, and brands,” and pointed out that “it can be accurately and fairly said that President Trump built most of New York City’s famous skyline.”
According to a source familiar with the situation, The New York Times responded on October 31 by forwarding the letter to Penguin Random House and asserting its reporting. The New York Times spokesperson declined to comment. Penguin Random House did not respond to requests for comments.
CJR further reported that on November 5, Mark Geragos, the lawyer for Chris LaCivita, co-chair of the Trump campaign, wrote to The Daily Beast demanding a correction regarding the mention of LaCivita raising 22 million dollars to aid Trump’s campaign in an article.
The Daily Beast replied, “Upon further review of records from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the correct total amount is 19.2 million dollars.” The media expressed regret for the error and updated the article to clarify that the payments were made to LaCivita’s company, not to him personally.
However, Geragos was not satisfied and on November 12, he sent another legal letter to The Daily Beast demanding a retraction. The letter stated, “This does not remedy the overall misinformation in this report, which portrays Mr. LaCivita as deceitfully misappropriating campaign funds for personal gain, suggesting he is on the verge of being ‘fired.'”
The letter continued, “This entire narrative is entirely inaccurate and is a result of The Daily Beast’s malicious and irresponsible reporting.”
In addition to The New York Times, Penguin Random House, and The Daily Beast, Trump’s lawyer also filed lawsuits against CBS News. The lawsuit accused CBS of “interfering with the election” by editing the interview with Kamala Harris on the “60 Minutes” program on October 7.
The 19-page lawsuit sought 10 billion dollars in damages, alleging that CBS “went all-in to promote Kamala Harris’s campaign” and engaged in “partisan and illegal voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and extensive news distortions.”
In response, CBS called the lawsuit “completely baseless,” denied that the interview was edited, and vowed to “actively defend” against the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyer also lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against The Washington Post, accusing them of providing illegal in-kind donations to Kamala Harris’s campaign. The Washington Post, under owner Jeff Bezos’ directive, refused to endorse presidential candidates this year, with Bezos later calling Trump’s re-election a “remarkable political resurrection.” However, he dismissed the allegations as “improper” and “baseless.”