Trump launches new assault on the free press (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Interesting for a man who professes to be a "Lover of the Constitution". And let's be clear about this - Donald Trump knows that this lawsuit will fail based on the First Amendment . . . this is nothing more than an intimidation tactic (and strongly reflective of malignant narcissism).

So, on the theory of "election interference" - which isn't actually a private cause of action - and an Iowa consumer fraud statute, Trump has sued the Des Moines Register and its well-known pollster/poll-expert Ann Selzer for publishing her polling analysis that showed Harris leading Trump in Iowa. Trump has been stating for weeks now that he intends to file other suits against the press and even stating that some members of the press should be prosecuted for crimes.

Many states have an "anti-SLAPP" law that allows for defamation defendants to recover attorneys fees (100% and sometimes more) where it it ruled that the plaintiff had no legitimate case and used the lawsuit to try to intimidate the speaker from free exercise of speech regarding the plaintiff. Iowa has no such law. I don't have the lawsuit yet because the press remains wildly incompetent about covering legal matters and it isn't available on the Iowa courts site yet.

President-elect Trump sued the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer on Monday over a poll released just before Election Day indicating Vice President Harris had a sizable lead in Iowa.

The poll found Harris leading Trump in Iowa by 3 percentage points days before Trump won the state by 14 percentage points as voters sent him back to the White House.

Trump’s lawsuit, which was filed in Iowa state court in Polk County, accuses the outlet and pollster of violating Iowa’s consumer fraud laws by engaging in deception.

“Selzer’s polling ‘miss’ was not an astonishing coincidence — it was intentional,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount of damages and an order preventing the pollster from “releasing any further deceptive polls” and compelling them to disclose information they relied upon in publishing the November survey.

Trump sues Des Moines Register, top pollster for 'brazen election interference,' fraud over Harris poll

FIRST ON FOX: President-elect Donald Trump is suing the Des Moines Register and its top pollster Ann Selzer for “brazen election interference" and fraud over its final 2024 presidential poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris leading him in Iowa, despite his ultimate victory in the state by...

www.foxnews.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Should Donald Trump make good on his threats to sue media organizations and critics whom he believes have disparaged him, he will end up "looking like the fool that he is."

That is the opinion of conservative lawyer and Trump critic George Conway during an appearance on MSNBC on Sunday morning.

Speaking with the hosts of "The Weekend," Conway said the president-elect's threat to use the courts to go after his critics has no basis in law and are solely designed as vehicles of harassment and attempts to silence criticism.

Using Trump's threat to sue Iowa pollster Ann Selzer for "election interference" as an example, Conway explained, "It's the laws. You have to have laws that are violated to bring these actions whether they be brought in his personal capacity or by the government. This is all nonsense."

"Especially suing the pollster?" he continued. " There is no claim for suing a pollster, putting out a poll that doesn't predict the right result. And think about this: he is saying they lied about a poll. There is no person on this planet who has lied more about polls than Donald Trump. I mean, he is always saying he is ahead, he is never behind in the polls."

'It's all gaslighting and it's all intimidation and bullying, that's what narcissists do," he later added. "And some people are being bullied and he is trying to make everybody afraid of him. But what's going to happen is he is going to overreach in some of these lawsuit, like this Des Moines Register lawsuit; the lawyers may be sanctioned. These lawsuits are going to go nowhere and he is going to have egg on his face and look like the fool that he is.".............

MSN

Trump drops lawsuit against Iowa pollster and paper over survey that favored Kamala

Attorneys for J. Ann Selzer said that no settlement was reached with the president.

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

We’ll see if this leads to an exodus of CBS News talent and execs
=============================

In a case seen as a challenge to free speech, Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the editing of CBS’ “ 60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October.

Paramount told media outlets the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, not to the president himself. It said the settlement did not involve an apology.

Trump’s lawyer said the president had suffered “mental anguish” over the editing of the interview by CBS News, while Paramount and CBS rejected his contention that it was edited to enhance how Harris sounded. They had sought to get Trump’s lawsuit dismissed.

There was no immediate word from the White House about the settlement of the case, which Trump filed in Amarillo, Texas.

The case has been closely watched by advocates for press freedom and by journalists within CBS, whose lawyers called Trump’s lawsuit “completely without merit” and promised to vigorously fight it after it was filed.……..

Paramount to pay $16 million in settlement with Trump over '60 Minutes' interview

Paramount told media outlets the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, not to the president himself. It said the settlement did not involve an apology.

apnews.com

 

[Dragon]

We’ll see if this leads to an exodus of CBS News talent and execs
=============================

In a case seen as a challenge to free speech, Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the editing of CBS’ “ 60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October.

Paramount told media outlets the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, not to the president himself. It said the settlement did not involve an apology.

Trump’s lawyer said the president had suffered “mental anguish” over the editing of the interview by CBS News, while Paramount and CBS rejected his contention that it was edited to enhance how Harris sounded. They had sought to get Trump’s lawsuit dismissed.

There was no immediate word from the White House about the settlement of the case, which Trump filed in Amarillo, Texas.

The case has been closely watched by advocates for press freedom and by journalists within CBS, whose lawyers called Trump’s lawsuit “completely without merit” and promised to vigorously fight it after it was filed.……..

Paramount to pay $16 million in settlement with Trump over '60 Minutes' interview

Paramount told media outlets the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, not to the president himself. It said the settlement did not involve an apology.

apnews.com

https://open.substack.com/pub/adamkinzinger/p/the-coward-billionaire-and-the-tyrant?r=3lefz2&

 

[Optimus Prime]

John Dickerson ended Wednesday’s broadcast of CBS Evening News by subtly swiping at the network’s corporate boss Paramount for shelling out $16 million to settle Donald Trump’s lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview, noting that the company itself said the president’s case “is without basis in law and fact.”

The veteran anchor’s commentary was even more pointed on the show he hosts for the network’s streaming platform, as he noted that the settlement “poses a new obstacle” for the network’s journalists.

“Can you hold power to account after paying it millions? Can an audience trust you when it thinks you’ve traded away that trust?” Dickerson pondered.

Journalists and free speech advocates have absolutely pilloried Paramount for capitulating to the media-bashing president in a case that legal experts described as frivolous and the network’s own lawyers said was completely without merit, warning that it sets an increasingly dangerous precedent.

“Behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated,” the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression stated. “This settlement will only embolden the president to continue his flurry of baseless lawsuits against the press — and against the American people’s ability to hear the news free from government intrusion.”…….

CBS anchor swipes at Paramount for settling Trump lawsuit ‘it said is without basis’

‘Can you hold power to account after paying it millions? Can an audience trust you when it thinks you’ve traded away that trust?’ John Dickerson asked viewers on Wednesday.

www.independent.co.uk

 

[MT15]

I’ve always respected John Dickerson. He is truly a good man.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Trump is waging war against the media – and winning

As the president’s attacks are met with a distinct lack of resistance, critics warn that freedom of the press is eroding in plain sight

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Donald Trump all but confirmed a report that he struck a “side deal” with the soon-to-be owners of Paramount over the 60 Minuteslawsuit, claiming that Skydance Media’s supposed promise to run public service ads in support of the president would place the settlement amount at roughly $35 million.

In a long-expected but still heavily denounced capitulation to the president, Paramount – which is finalizing an $8 billion mega-merger with Skydance that needs the Trump administration’s approval – agreed to pay Trump’s future presidential library $16 million (minus legal fees) to settle his lawsuit against CBS News that the network’s own lawyers called “meritless.”………

Trump says he struck side deal for additional $16 million in ‘60 Minutes’ settlement

‘We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million, or maybe more than that, in advertising... It's like $32 to maybe $35 million,’ the president said over the weekend.

www.independent.co.uk

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

Donald Trump all but confirmed a report that he struck a “side deal” with the soon-to-be owners of Paramount over the 60 Minuteslawsuit, claiming that Skydance Media’s supposed promise to run public service ads in support of the president would place the settlement amount at roughly $35 million.

If that's accurate, and I don't doubt that it is, that's bad. I hope Paramount and Skydance have something up their sleave for after the merger. Trump and his lawyers are never the smartest people in the room, so hopefully Paramount is playing Trump and not actually giving in to Trump.

 

[MT15]

WaPo is just lost. It should be noted that this guy writes op-eds, he’s not a reporter. These restrictions on opinion pieces are just nuts.

 

[Dragon]

I've noticed a trend lately both here but also on bluesky and other websites that I frequent - that the number of linked articles from US newspapers and news sources has dropped off dramatically. Instead the guardian and the Independent - both UK based are the most cited sources.

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

I've noticed a trend lately both here but also on bluesky and other websites that I frequent - that the number of linked articles from US newspapers and news sources has dropped off dramatically. Instead the guardian and the Independent - both UK based are the most cited sources.

I only read Reuters and AP to keep up with daily news. When I do searches on specific topics, I'm finding more and more that American news media is way down on the list. I use an anonymous search engine and a lot of anti-tracking tools, so it's not my searching history that's creating that.

I think the main issue is that American news media is doing more fluff, superficial and shock value "reporting" and not much consequential or in depth reporting. I think part of that is because Trump and his Republicans make a big stink and stir up controversy over any report that's not positive about what Trump and his Republicans are doing.

 

[MT15]

New OpEd editor for WaPo seems to confirm that MAGA has taken over the Post and subtly hints that those who are not on board will be invited to leave.

Here’s the full text of the memo that went out.

 

[MT15]

Truly amazing that the paper responsible for reporting on Watergate and the Pentagon Papers has now succumbed to pushing “happy talk”. It makes me ill.

 

[bird]

New OpEd editor for WaPo seems to confirm that MAGA has taken over the Post and subtly hints that those who are not on board will be invited to leave.

Here’s the full text of the memo that went out.

Um, Adam? There is no such thing as a free market. Never has been, never will be. Ever heard of TANSTAAFL? There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. It applies to political economy.

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

New OpEd editor for WaPo seems to confirm that MAGA has taken over the Post and subtly hints that those who are not on board will be invited to leave.

Here’s the full text of the memo that went out.

Add Bezos to the list of MAGA billionaires who want to destroy our democracy and rip away our rights versus maybe losing a small percentage of his hoard of wealth and influence.