NYT says no libel, no retraction, no apology for Trump story
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump raises his fist during a campaign rally, Thursday, in Cincinnati.
WASHINGTON >> The New York Times rejected Donald Trump’s claim the newspaper had libeled the Republican presidential nominee, saying its story about two women who said he sexually assaulted them was “newsworthy information about a subject of deep public concern.”
In a letter Thursday, Times attorney David McCraw said Trump “has bragged about his non-consensual sexual touching of women” and that multiple women had already come forward. “Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself,” he wrote.
The Times reported Wednesday that two women told the paper of his unwanted sexual advances. One, Jessica Leeds, said Trump groped her on an airplane more than three decades ago. The other, Rachel Crooks, said Trump kissed her without invitation in 2006 when she was a 22-year-old receptionist for a real estate firm located at Trump Tower.
Trump vehemently denied the allegations, and demanded through his attorney that the story be retracted. At a rally in Ohio, Trump said the media had “slandered and lied about me with false accusations.”
The Times refused to retract the story, saying its reporters worked diligently to confirm the women’s accounts. “It would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices,” McCraw’s letter said.
McCraw said that if Trump decides to go ahead with a lawsuit, then “we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.”
21 responses to “NYT says no libel, no retraction, no apology for Trump story”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
The Times and their counsel are correct, of course. Mr. Trump has no reputation to protect, so he will get nothing. If he moves forward with the suit anyway, the Times would be able to dig mercilessly into Trump’s background and audio / video archives in the discovery process. That would effectively nullify any non-disclosure agreements in place.
Great strategy, Mr. Trump!
This guy is papule ( nuts), I would not trust him with a potato gun, even more with control of this nation !!!
Donald is bluffing. If he were to go to court he would be dead as a door nail. More sh## would be coming out so no way would he try to do that. LYING DONALD, SEND HIM TO JAIL!
US Debt Soars To $19.7 Trillion…up over $170 billion in just eight business days.
To give it some context, that’s up over $170 billion in just eight business days.
Of course, this hasn’t been reported anywhere because the media is too busy pretending to be shocked that Donald Trump is a womanizer.
And yet the debt is a much, much bigger story… though admittedly one that is far less entertaining.
The election is merely a fight over who gets to be the band conductor while the Titanic sinks. And the debt is precisely the reason for this.
Well put because Dishonest Donald’s pseudo budget plan adds another $7 trillion to the debt! Cuts all 1 percenters taxes including Dishonest Donald, eliminates completely the inheritance tax which only benefits the top including Dishonest Donald. LOL
Well if you are concern about debt, then you should vote for Hillary. The Donald will only add to the national debt with his 50 ft. wall along the border, and tossing out anyone Muslim. Just remember the last time the country had a surplus, Clinton was president. Hopefully Hillary will return us to that position.
Klastri, the New AG is going to conduct an investigation of the investigation into all the people aiding and abetting Crooked Hilliary’s crimes against America. I would say send more money but I know you and Ike are broke having had to sell your last clay pot to pee in. Sad how misguided you are.
I’m pretty sure Les, what I paid just in federal taxes is double to triple, what your gross income is…
You and Mr. Trump believe that the United States is a tin pot dictatorship, where things like that happen. It doesn’t happen here and it will not happen here. You don’t know anything, of course, so comments like this are expected of you. Good luck with your delusion of a Trump win.
This is how Dishonest Donald has run his business for his entire career. His mentor was the flamboyantly gay attorney Roy Cohn, who was Joseph McCarthy’s right hand man during the 1950’s witch hunts. Dishonest Donald was taught to humiliate and sue everyone he didn’t like or trust.
He has NO chance whatsoever winning a libel case against the Times–absolutely zero!
Further, and probably the more important point, he would never go forward as it would place him in the direct fire of discovery, where under oath, he would squirm and squeal, like the vermin he is……..
Ike, he would squirm and squeal like a kitty that he is. OMG and his supporters are as disillusional as he is.
This is beginning to look like a bill cosby situation. More and more women will feel empowered to come forward with their stories of unwanted encounters with trump. This could get very very messy very quickly.
To win a libel suit, a public figure has to prove the motivation of the publisher was to inflict injury, harm, or suffering with a disregard of the truth. Trump would have to show the paper knew the accusations were or might be false.
A person who is not a public figure need only prove that the published story is false and injured their reputation. There are some exceptions, such as testimony given in court.
The New York Times isn’t backing away from its reporting on Donald Trump’s history of sexual assault, despite a legal threat from the GOP nominee. On Wednesday night, the Times published a bombshell story detailing several allegations against Trump, and within hours Trump’s lawyers demanded a retraction of the story and threatened a libel lawsuit.
The Times was not moved by that threat. “It would be a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices,” the paper replied. And in a mic-drop closer, it challenged him to take the lawsuit forward: “We welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.”
Kick rocks Donald et al…..
The New York Times of Jayson Blair fame?
This rag isn’t worth the fish it used to be wrapped in.
I have read the paper since 1978, right after the 3 month newspaper strike in NYC.
It has gone completely downhill. No longer “All the news that is fit to print”. Not since 1998.
Salzberger should be ashamed.
For bringing down King Donald?
Sorry, who exactly was it that used to wrap the New York Times in fish?
Trump file a suit against Times and the women. Take them to court to have this settled. Although this will not go to court by the time the election comes around. This goes to show that you are being harassed by the media and people who does not want to see you as our next president. These women will retract and not show up in court because of their made up stories that has no truth to it at all.
Why do you think hillary does not want to take anyone to court regarding all the scandalous things spoken of her. Because the truth will come forth and she will be found guilty as stated by those allegations.
You obviously don’t understand how the law works. If he actually follows through with this bluff, the NYT will have access to currently confidential documents, testimony, audio and video that is currently protected by non-disclosure agreements and similar contracts. He’ll never do that.
Mrs. Clinton doesn’t sue people because she’s going to be the President in a few months.
Of course the paper won’t retract the story. Nothing to retract. Sorry Donald if the truth hurts.