Last Friday (12), Donald Trump was ordered to pay US$400,000 to the New York Times and three reporters from the newspaper. The amount refers to legal fees.
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In 2018, the former president sued the publication and journalists for a report on how the Trump family’s wealth was built with practices involving tax fraud.
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By order of a court in New York, reporters Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner had to stop taking part in the action. Since the incident, Trump has been fighting a legal battle with his niece Mary Trump, alleging that she violated an agreement by providing tax records to journalists.
Judge Robert Reed stated that given the “complexity of the issues” that form part of the case, it was reasonable to force Trump to pay the lawyer’s fees for the newspaper and reporters’ defenses. Danielle Rhoads Ha, spokesperson for The New York Times, stated that the decision highlights the effectiveness of the anti-SLAPP statute, which prevents the filing of unfounded lawsuits intended to silence critics, highlighting that this statute can be a robust tool in defense of press freedom. She noted that the court sent a clear message to those who seek to misuse the judicial system to silence journalists. Alina Habba, Donald Trump’s lawyer, expressed her continued dissatisfaction with the exclusion of the newspaper and its reporters from the case, but said she was eager to continue the case against Mary Trump.