NYT Lawyer Fires Back at Trump Attorneys

Donald Trump's lawyers have threatened to sue the New York Times over a story alleging that he groped two women—but the lawyers for the Times don't appear to be quaking in their boots. "The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one's reputation," writes NYT general counsel David McCraw in a letter to Trump's attorneys, noting that Trump has, among other things, "bragged about his non-consensual touching of women." "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," McCraw writes, telling Trump's lawyers that he is rejecting their demands to retract the story.

Sources tell CNNMoney that McCraw—who told Trump's lawyers that the NYT would welcome the opportunity to have a court set Trump straight if he thinks he can silence his accusers—was cheered as he walked through the newsroom on Thursday. Lawyers for Melania Trump, meanwhile, have threatened legal action against People over a minor detail in writer Natasha Stoynoff's account of Trump forcing himself on her, reports Politico. Melania Trump's lawyers are demanding a retraction of Stoynoff's "false" statements about bumping into her in front of Trump Tower months after the alleged incident. (Trump says his accusers are "horrible, horrible liars.")