SLAPP-happy: why Trumpworld keeps suing the press |
Donald Trump has had a career-long love-hate relationship with the press. On one hand, he popularized the phrase “fake news” and branded the press “the enemy of the people.” On the other, the President takes phone calls from virtually every reporter with his personal cell and is fixated on cable news and his print media coverage. Trump views journalists as friends, foes and foils, or some combination of the three. But if a story catches him at the wrong moment, the author could find themselves on the receiving end of a Trump-SLAPP.
A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP, is a lawsuit filed with a tactical intent besides disproving a damaging story in a court of law. Usually the suit demands an attention-seekingly large sum in damages. “I wish that every article describing a lawsuit would note that the sums demanded are purely for the benefit of headline writers and should always be read in a Dr. Evil voice,” is how the New Yorker’s lawyer Fabio Bertoli puts it.
‘Trump’s natural instinct is to be litigious. It’s the bare-knuckle New York real-estate, fist-fight mentality’
‘Trump’s natural instinct is to be litigious. It’s the bare-knuckle New York real-estate, fist-fight mentality’
The complainant may wish to undermine the integrity of the offending reporter or outlet. Or they could file a SLAPP as a means of intimidating other outlets from pursuing negative stories. Unlike a bona fide libel suit, the end-goal of a SLAPP isn’t necessarily a jury or judicial ruling in favor of the plaintiff, though an out-of-court settlement can also be considered a win. “The complaints are framed as wild PR screeds against the press generally, and against the reporters or news organization that’s being sued,”........