U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is following through on his threats to take legal action against the media, filing several recent lawsuits seeking damages from major publishers for what he claims is false or misleading coverage. Here are details on five of the cases and their current status:
Des Moines Register Poll Lawsuit:
Trump has sued the Des Moines Register and its former pollster, J. Ann Selzer, in an Iowa state court over an opinion poll that showed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris leading Trump by 3 percentage points in Iowa before the November 5th election. Trump, who ultimately won Iowa, accused the Register and Selzer of election interference by manipulating and leaking the poll results. The lawsuit also names the Register’s parent company, Gannett, and alleges violations of Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order to prevent deceptive practices related to the poll.
ABC ‘Rape’ Comments Lawsuit:
ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump, agreeing to donate $15 million to his presidential library and issue a statement expressing regret for comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos. The lawsuit stemmed from Stephanopoulos’ remarks about a civil case involving writer E. Jean Carroll and Trump, where he referenced the word “rape.” Trump denied the accusation, and while a jury found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse, they did not find him guilty of rape under New York state law. ABC News expressed satisfaction with the lawsuit’s dismissal.
CBS ’60 Minutes’ Harris Interview Lawsuit:
In October, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS, alleging deceptive editing of an interview with then-presidential candidate Harris to favor the Democratic Party. Trump claimed that CBS aired two versions of the interview where Harris appeared to give different answers to the same question about the Israel-Hamas conflict, violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act. CBS has yet to respond publicly to the lawsuit.
In response to the lawsuit, CBS asserted that it did not tamper with the interview or conceal any parts of Harris’ responses, deeming the legal action baseless. On December 6, CBS filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, contending that it should be either rejected due to lack of jurisdiction or alternatively transferred to New York. As of now, Trump’s legal team has yet to provide a response.
The legal battle between Trump and publishing giant Simon & Schuster unfolded in January 2023 when Trump initiated a federal lawsuit in Florida. In the lawsuit, Trump accused Simon & Schuster and renowned author Bob Woodward of infringing copyright laws. Trump alleged that they engaged in the “systematic usurpation, manipulation, and exploitation” of audio recordings featuring Trump that Woodward had compiled during their interviews. According to Trump, the defendants unlawfully profited from the recordings by disseminating them without his consent and distorting their context to portray him unfavorably. Seeking damages of unspecified value, Trump’s lawsuit prompted Simon & Schuster and Woodward to issue a statement dismissing the claims as unfounded, asserting that the interviews were conducted with Trump’s consent and were on the record. Simon & Schuster sought to relocate the legal proceedings to a federal court in New York while the case awaited a decision on whether it had been filed in the appropriate jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team expressed hopes in a court filing that Simon & Schuster would emulate the contrition displayed by another individual, Mr. Stephanopoulos, insinuating that Trump’s victory in the election had sparked a newfound accountability for those who had infringed upon his rights over the preceding four years. The legal wrangling continued as Discovery in the case was temporarily halted pending a ruling on the jurisdictional matter.
In another legal confrontation, Trump lodged a defamation lawsuit against CNN, seeking damages amounting to $475 million. The lawsuit, filed in October 2022 in a federal court in Florida, was triggered by CNN’s use of the phrase “the big lie” to characterize Trump’s unsupported claims of victory in the 2020 election, coupled with alleged comparisons drawn between Trump and Adolf Hitler. Trump contended that CNN’s repeated invocation of “big lie” and the Hitler analogy in a January 2022 special report was designed to incite fear and outrage among the public.
However, in a ruling delivered by U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the defamation lawsuit was dismissed in July 2023. Judge Singhal determined that CNN’s references to the “big lie” and the Hitler comparisons were matters of opinion rather than statements of fact. Singhal pointed out that likening someone to Hitler is not a verifiable assertion of fact that could substantiate a defamation claim. Undeterred by the ruling, Trump opted to appeal the decision, indicating a continued legal battle on the horizon.
As the legal saga surrounding these high-profile cases unfolds, the intricacies of copyright laws, defamation claims.
