The judge tossed Trump’s lawsuit against The New York Times over stories about his tax returns, and the former president was ordered to pay the legal fees of The Times and the sued reporters.
In a ruling filed on Wednesday afternoon, Justice Robert R. Reed of State Supreme Court in Manhattan wrote that Mr. Trump’s claims against his niece, The Times and its reporters “fail as a matter of constitutional law.”
“Courts have long recognized that reporters are entitled to engage in legal and ordinary news-gathering activities without fear of tort liability — as these actions are at the very core of protected first amendment activity,” Justice Reed wrote.
The judge also ordered Mr. Trump to pay legal expenses and associated costs for The Times and its reporters, Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russ Buettner.
This is not the first time that one of Trump’s bogus lawsuits has cost him money. Trump and his lawyers were sanctioned nearly one million dollars after his RICO lawsuit against Hillary Clinton was thrown out of court.
Donald Trump, the man who has built a mythology of winning, can’t stop filing nuisance lawsuits that cost him money.
At the heart of The Times lawsuit was Trump’s desire to destroy the First Amendment and the free press. The former president tries to use the courts to harass and intimidate, but that strategy appears to have worn thin with judges, many of whom have grown tired of Trump’s antics tying up their courts.
Trump has once again proven that the only thing he is truly good at is losing.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
This story originally appeared on Politicususa
