Former President Donald Trump was ordered to pay The New York Times almost $400,000 in legal costs stemming from his lawsuit against the publication, its three reporters and his niece regarding a Pulitzer Prize winning story about his family’s wealth and tax practice.
In 2021, Trump sued the liberal newspaper and his niece Mary Trump for $100 million, accusing them of “violating his contractual rights, interfering in his contractual rights, and otherwise maliciously conspiring” against him to get and publish his 2018 tax records.
Justice Robert R. Reed dismissed the lawsuit in May against the newspaper, Susanne Craig and journalists David Barstow, Russell Buettner, saying that Trump’s allegations against The Times were “unconstitutional.” Trump’s lawsuit against his estranged aunt, Mary Trump, alleging that she violated a previous settlement agreement by providing tax records to reporters, is still pending.
[elementor-template id="1446"]A judge has ordered Donald Trump, to pay $400,000 in legal costs for a lawsuit that failed over his family’s wealth.
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Reed stated that, given the “complexity” of the issue and other factors in the case, it is reasonable for Donald Trump to be required to pay $392,638 worth of legal fees in order to the Times and reporters.
According to The Associated Press, “Today’s decision shows how the newly amended anti SLAPP statute in New York can be a powerful tool for protecting press liberty,” Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoads Ha stated. Ha was referring a New York Law that prohibits SLAPP lawsuits (strategic litigation against public participation), which are used by lawyers to intimidate or silence critics through expensive and baseless legal proceedings.
Ha stated that “the court has sent out a clear message to those who would misuse the legal system to silence journalists.”
Alina Habba said that Donald Trump’s attorney, Alina, is still disappointed by the Times’ decision to drop the case and the reporters. She expressed her satisfaction that the court affirmed “the force of our claims against Mary” and denied Mary’s attempt to avoid accountability.
The New York Times Building is located in Midtown Manhattan. The New York Times has ordered the former president Donald Trump to pay nearly $400,000 for legal fees arising from a lawsuit that he filed against the publication, its three reporters and his niece in response to a Pulitzer Prize winning story about the wealth and tax practices of his family. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins).
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According to The Associated Press, Habba stated that “we look forward to pursuing our claims against her.”
Former President Trump claimed that the three journalists were “in a crusade” to get his “confidential records”. Mary Trump, he said, was “persuaded to smuggle records out of the attorney’s office” and give them to the newspaper.
Mary Trump is alleged to have accessed “more than 40 000 pages of highly confidential, proprietary and private documents including financial documents, accountings and tax records. These documents include income tax returns, banking statements, legal documents, and other documents related to the former president. This was discovered during litigation relating to the will Mary Anne Trump. Mary Anne Trump is the mother of Donald Trump, and the grandmother of Mary Trump.
The lawsuit claims that the documents were considered confidential as part of a settlement contract.
In May, a New York judge threw out a lawsuit filed against the newspaper saying that Trump’s claims “fail in a constitutional law matter”
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The lawsuit alleges that Craig “persistently, relentlessly pursued Mary Trump to obtain certain documents she believed Mary Trump to possess” and provided the president’s daughter with a “burner phone” to help her smuggle confidential documents out of a law firm.
Mary Trump is a vocal critic of her Uncle and appears regularly on liberal cable networks to bash his character. She wrote the 2020 book, “Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man”, along with its 2021 sequel, “The Reckoning”: Our Nation’s Trauma and Finding a way to Heal.
The Times published on Oct. 2, 2018 an article entitled “Trump Engaged In Suspect Tax Schemes As He Reaped Wealth From His Father”, which acknowledged that it was “based upon a vast array of confidential tax returns, financial records and other documents.” According to the lawsuit, the Times’ use of the language “confirms that it had actual knowledge” that the Confidential Record was confidential.
This report was contributed by Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Brian Flood and The Associated Press.