On Friday, a New York judge ordered former President Donald Trump to pay almost $400,000 to The New York Times and three of its journalists who wrote a 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning article about his family’s wealth and tax practices. The article was based on confidential tax records that Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, had given to the reporters.
The judge, Robert Reed, dismissed the lawsuit against the newspaper and the three reporters - Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner - in May. He said that Trump’s lawsuit against his niece, who he claimed violated a previous settlement agreement by sharing the tax records, is still ongoing.
Reed said that the legal fees of $392,638 that Trump had to pay to the Times and the reporters were reasonable, considering the “complexity of the issues” and other factors in the case. He also praised the state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation) law, which protects journalists from frivolous lawsuits intended to silence them.
“Today’s decision shows that the state’s newly amended anti-SLAPP statute can be a powerful force for protecting press freedom,” said Danielle Rhoads Ha, a spokesperson for the Times.
{{/usCountry}}“Today’s decision shows that the state’s newly amended anti-SLAPP statute can be a powerful force for protecting press freedom,” said Danielle Rhoads Ha, a spokesperson for the Times.
{{/usCountry}}“The court has sent a message to those who want to misuse the judicial system to try to silence journalists,” she added.
Court rejects Mary Trump's plea
In another ruling on Friday, Reed rejected Mary Trump’s request to pause the case while she appeals his June decision that allowed Trump’s lawsuit against her to continue.
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Donald Trump, said they were unhappy that the Times and the reporters were no longer part of the case. She said they were glad that the court has “once again affirmed the strength of our claims against Mary and is denying her attempt to avoid accountability.”
“We look forward to proceeding with our claims against her,” she said.
Donald Trump filed the lawsuit in 2021, alleging that the Times and the reporters had pursued Mary Trump as a source of information and persuaded her to hand over the tax records. He said the reporters knew that she was not allowed to disclose the documents, which she had obtained in a dispute over the estate of Fred Trump, the family patriarch.
The Times’ article revealed that the former president had received at least $413 million from his father over the years, including through tax avoidance schemes. Mary Trump confirmed in a book published in 2020 that she was the source of the documents.
The article also reported that Donald Trump and his father had dodged gift and inheritance taxes by creating a fake corporation and undervaluing their assets to the tax authorities. The Times said its report was based on more than 100,000 pages of financial documents, including secret tax returns for the father and his companies.