President-elect Donald Trump Contempt for media The two lawsuits filed against the well-known, but news organization, provide a worrying outlook for the next four years for outlets and journalists covering his administration.
Disney, the parent company of ABC News, Settled a lawsuit with Trump for $15 million; Trump sued the company because anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely said that Trump author E. Jean was responsible for raping Carol, when she was actually responsible for sexually assaulting him. Trump sued Iowa newspaper the Des Moines Register this week after they published a poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris would win the state; He also sued whoever created the poll. Trump is accusing it of election interference. The developments come amid the ongoing lawsuit against Trump CBS and publisher Simon & Schuster.
Such cases are not new. They are meant to be expensive and time-consuming for news organizations, even if outlets win cases They also prompt all news organizations to question whether it’s worth publishing critical reports about a public figure — in this case, Trump — given the financial, legal and public relations risks.
The United States has strong protections for the press, so news groups can fulfill their obligations to inform the public, especially about powerful individuals and organizations. But Trump’s case could interfere with their ability to do so.
What is this case about?
Trump’s lawsuits against ABC, the Des Moines Register and Iowa pollster Ann Selzer are commonly referred to as strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP).
Trump first filed a defamation suit against ABC News. Trump’s team initially filed the lawsuit in Florida in the spring, while Stephanopoulos in March against Rep. said in an interview with Nancy Mays (R-SC). this week That Trump raped Carroll in 1996. Trump’s actions qualify as sexual harassmentAnd not rape under New York law, where Carroll’s lawsuit was filed. However, the judge in the case noted that Trump’s abuses aligned with the general definition of rape, even if they did not meet specific legal standards.
Defamation suits against newspapers must meet a very high standard in the United States; Reporters make mistakes, but that’s not enough to sue a reporter or news organization. Defamation lawsuits must prove that a reporter acted with actual malice, writing or saying something they knew or had good reason to believe was false.
In July, Disney He asked to throw away the suitOn the basis that Stephanopoulos’ statements were essentially true, if inaccurate, and that his reporting was Protected by Florida law. The judge argued that a jury could potentially convict Stephanopoulos. Then on Friday, he ordered Stephanopoulos and Trump to testify and Disney to hand over documents related to the case. Disney It is said that there has been pressure to settle the case Partly because the company worries it could lose a jury trial in heavily Republican Florida.
In Iowa, Trump is suing the Des Moines Register, its parent company Gannett, Selzer and its polling company for allegedly committing consumer fraud for creating and publishing a pre-election poll that showed Vice President Kamala Harris winning the state. (Trump Iowa won by more than 10 percentage points.) The suit accused Selzer of “Blatant election interference” According to the New York Times.
Trump filed a similar lawsuit against CBS News in October, alleging that an interview with Harris on his program 60 minutes Its editing violated consumer protection laws.
SLAPP suits are meant to have a chilling effect
The kind of lawsuits Trump is filing against media companies are “the latest solution that rich and powerful people who want to bully the press have tried to circumvent the First Amendment’s well-established protections for the press against defamation and similar claims,” Seth Stern, Freedom of the director of advocacy at the Press Foundation, told Vox
Trump may not win this suit, but that’s not really the point.
“Besides being legally groundless, what really characterizes a SLAPP suit is that the objective is not so much to win, but to send a message and punish critics by forcing them to collect legal fees, and not just legal fees, but litigation. Time spent defending against, that can be quite devastating for smaller outlets,” said Stern.
Trump has made that clear in the past Know the purpose of this suit — to induce this expenditure, and to establish the fear of speaking against it. Like Trump Infamously said about a case He brought against the author of a book he didn’t like, “I spent a few bucks on legal fees and they spent a lot more. I did it to make his life miserable, which I’m happy about.”
According to Samantha Barbus, a legal historian at the University of Iowa School of Law, SLAPP suits have a long history in the United States.
“Historically, politicians and other public figures have tried to shut down their critics, particularly in the press, using defamation laws,” he told Vox. “In the early 20th century, it was really common for government officials to try to sue the press out of existence for comments they didn’t like.”
Now, the United States has strong press freedom protections, established in 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan, which codifies those protections Many states have anti-SLAPP laws, and a federal anti-SLAPP law was proposed in 2022. But Trump says he wants to Undo some of that protection.
These protections are said to exist largely because of Supreme Court precedents rather than federal law Ken Disney’s lawyers chose to settle — so the case could not go to the Supreme Court and could potentially be rolled back Sullivan.
“At least one Supreme Court justice, Justice Thomas, expressed skepticism New York Times v. Sullivan standard, and the Supreme Court wants to reconsider it,” Stern said, though there was no indication that the other justices shared Thomas’ opinion.
Not to be, there’s nothing stopping Trump from continuing to file SLAPP lawsuits — and he could even inspire copycat lawsuits, Barbus said.
“When someone wins a libel suit against the press, it will motivate others to bring claims, and that becomes very dangerous,” Barbus said.
