NEWSDonald Trump Suffers Massive Blow in Bitter War with Niece: Judge Orders Ex-President to Pay Legal Fees
May 4 2023, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Another low blow for Donald Trump: on Wednesday, May 3, a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a $100 million lawsuit brought by the former president, 76, against The New York Times, as the outlet previously reported on his taxes in 2018.
In 2021, Trump filed the lawsuit against the newspaper, in addition to his estranged niece Mary Trump, and accused them of "tortiously breaching and/or interfering with his contractual rights and otherwise maliciously conspiring against him" when researching his tax information.
In his ruling, Justice Robert R. Reed called Trump the "twice-impeached former president," and said his claims against The Times "fail as a matter of constitutional law."
He said the reporting the Times did "protect First Amendment activity."
After the ruling, the Times made a statement about the ordeal, saying: "The New York Times is pleased with the judge's decision today. It is an important precedent reaffirming that the press is protected when it engages in routine newsgathering to obtain information of vital importance to the public."
"The defendants engaged in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records which they exploited for their own benefit and utilized as a means of falsely legitimizing their publicized works. The defendants’ actions were motivated by a personal vendetta and their desire to gain fame, notoriety, acclaim and a financial windfall and were further intended to advance their political agenda," the suit reads.
Times reporters David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner, who all earned a Pulitzer Prize in 2019 for their "explanatory reporting" in to his tax documents, were named as defendants.
Trump claimed the journalists were "in the middle of an extensive crusade to obtain" his "confidential tax records," and Mary wanted to "smuggle the records out of her attorney's office and turn them over" to the paper.
No ruling has been made on his claims against Mary.
As OK! previously reported, Mary has ripped apart her uncle several times over the years.
After Trump was arrested and arraigned for allegedly paying Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged affair, Mary gave her input on the matter.
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"So he will run on on his indictments. He will fundraise off of his indictments," she said. "It will prove what a martyr he is to the cause. It will prove how what a witch hunt it is. It will prove all of the false narratives he’s been telling about himself since he was friggin' two years old."
Fox News reported on the lawsuit.
