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

 

[MT15]

They can’t stand anyone who will expose their lies. Like all authoritarians everywhere.

 

[Optimus Prime]

…….This is why a seemingly trivial issue – what to call the Gulf – is freighted with importance. Trump’s renaming of the Gulf unmistakably delivers his “America First” message.

He has every right to his message. But he doesn’t have the right to turn the press into his messenger.

The controversy began on Trump’s first day back in office, when he issued a unilateral order that an international sea, known for centuries as the Gulf of Mexico, henceforth be named the Gulf of America.

Certain organizations, such as Google, immediately complied by changing the Gulf’s name on Google Maps and redirecting searches for “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America”.

However, the AP, along with several other news organizations, resisted. Noting that the Trump order had no effect outside the US, the AP made an editorial judgment that its status as an international reporting agency was best served by continuing to refer to the Gulf by the name known to global readers.

The Trump administration retaliated by barring AP reporters from the press pool that covers media events at the White House or on Air Force One, and on Tuesday it went further, announcing it would determine which organizations had access to the pool – traditionally the job of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

While limited seating capacity may give the White House some discretion about who gets to be in the press pool, the first amendment does not permit that discretion to be used to punish the press or to limit access to outlets favorable to Trump.

As the AP stated in its complaint: “The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government. The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech” by controlling access.

As tempting as it is to follow Shakespeare in shrugging the shoulders at “what’s in a name,” we should turn to history to learn what follows when authoritarian leaders start out with seemingly harmless verbal imperialisms.

One of the first actions Hitler took after seizing power in 1933 was to scrub streets and public spaces of names that reflected Jewish influence or Weimar republicanism in favor of tributes to National Socialism.

Stalin celebrated his own greatness by changing Tsaritsyn, now Volgograd, to “Stalingrad”. Before Stalingrad, there was the switch from Petrograd to Leningrad.

In today’s China, the name “Tibet” has disappeared from Chinese maps in favor of the Mandarin name, “Xizang”…….

In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet made her “what’s in a name” speech to declare love for Romeo even though he bore the family name of her family’s blood enemy.

It didn’t turn out well for Juliet, and it won’t turn out well for us if we let Trump intimidate the AP because its editors had the courage to stand up to his bullying.………

Trump’s ‘Gulf of America’ debacle is no joke – this is how authoritarians get started

The move has disturbing historical precedents, and retaliation against the Associated Press signals more restrictions to come

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

How does an Executive Order even have any effect even in the US? I mean, he could direct the executive branch to use that name, I suppose. But how can he make anybody else use that name? What’s next, an EO changing the name of Florida to Trumpland? He has just as much authority to do that as to do this.

One of my biggest disappointments has been Google and Apple caving to this ridiculous EO immediately.

The courts better get this one right. IMO it actually is important to show him he isn’t a king.

 

[superchuck500]

 

[Optimus Prime]

Several journalists employed by an outlet funded by the U.S. government have found themselves in President Donald Trump's crosshairs, according to a new report.

In a Friday article, the New York Times reported that one longtime journalist at Voice of America (VOA) — which is funded by Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (AGM) — had been put on an extended "excused absence" pending a human resources investigation following a tweet flagged by Trump advisor Richard Grenell. VOA chief national correspondent Steve Herman said the investigation was meant to determine whether his "social media activity has undermined VOA's audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and its news operations."

In the tweet, Herman quoted a nonprofit leader who criticized Trump's cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development as making Americans "less safe at home and abroad." Grenell called Herman's tweet "treasonous."

“You don’t get to work against the official U.S. government policies while being paid by US taxpayers,” said Grenell, who is officially the Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions. “You should be immediately fired.”

According to the Times, Herman was then called into a meeting with VOA's human resources department, who forced him to acknowledge he had "improperly engaged in speculation and analysis." In addition to Herman, two other VOA journalists told the paper that they had also received "blowback" for similar comments. Employees are now raising their concerns about the investigations to VOA director Michael Abramowitz. They believe the investigations have a chilling effect on their reporting on the administration, which is meant to be independent of political influence..............

'Treasonous': Trump investigates public media reporters for criticizing his administration​

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Several journalists employed by an outlet funded by the U.S. government have found themselves in President Donald Trump's crosshairs, according to a new report.

In a Friday article, the New York Times reported that one longtime journalist at Voice of America (VOA) — which is funded by Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (AGM) — had been put on an extended "excused absence" pending a human resources investigation following a tweet flagged by Trump advisor Richard Grenell. VOA chief national correspondent Steve Herman said the investigation was meant to determine whether his "social media activity has undermined VOA's audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and its news operations."

In the tweet, Herman quoted a nonprofit leader who criticized Trump's cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development as making Americans "less safe at home and abroad." Grenell called Herman's tweet "treasonous."

“You don’t get to work against the official U.S. government policies while being paid by US taxpayers,” said Grenell, who is officially the Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions. “You should be immediately fired.”

According to the Times, Herman was then called into a meeting with VOA's human resources department, who forced him to acknowledge he had "improperly engaged in speculation and analysis." In addition to Herman, two other VOA journalists told the paper that they had also received "blowback" for similar comments. Employees are now raising their concerns about the investigations to VOA director Michael Abramowitz. They believe the investigations have a chilling effect on their reporting on the administration, which is meant to be independent of political influence..............

'Treasonous': Trump investigates public media reporters for criticizing his administration​

Reporting the news is treason, apparently. fork this administration. I hope all of them stain their family names forever.

 

[Optimus Prime]

CBS has filed a motion to dismiss President Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutesinterview last year, calling the suit an “affront to the First Amendment without basis in law or fact.”

The president had previously claimed the outlet edited the interview in such a way as to attempt to make him look bad to voters, allegedly contributing to “voter interference.”

He filed the lawsuit in October, months before taking office, prompting CBS to publicly release the unedited video of Harris last month in a bid to demonstrate there was nothing unusual or manipulative in the editing.

All broadcast interviews are edited, if only for length to fit the format of a program. The suit by Trump is unusual in that it appears to aim at control of editing decisions made by news organizations.

Trump filed suit in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas, stating the outlet’s actions violated the Texas Deceptive Practices Trade Act, a law that regulates commercial business practices.

CBS responded Thursday, stating the suit lacked the proper venue as well as personal and subject-matter jurisdiction, according to Axios.

“Plaintiffs President Donald J. Trump and Representative Ronny Jackson, public officials at the highest ranks of our government, seek to punish a news organization for constitutionally protected editorial judgments they do not like,” CBS attorneys wrote in one of the court documents. “This lawsuit is an affront to the First Amendment and is without basis in law or fact.”

They “not only ask for $20 billion in damages but also seek an order directing how a news organization may exercise its editorial judgment in the future,” the filing added. “The First Amendment stands resolutely against these demands.”

If the case is not dismissed, attorneys also asked for the lawsuit to be transferred to the Southern District of New York, where the headquarters of CBS News is located.…….

Defiant CBS suddenly comes out swinging in $20bn Trump lawsuit

Trump claims the outlet participated in ‘voter interference’ with edits while turning down 60 Minutes interview

www.independent.co.uk