President-elect Trump's defamation lawsuit against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, which ended in a $15 million settlement, looks like an expanding strategy. Even before it takes office, the Trump administration has issued a series of threats to news outlets that they could be sued over coverage that displeases it. The warnings have been delivered in letters, on the phone, in emails, and over CNN. They seem especially intended to intimidate the news media and others who have criticized Trump or his selections to run the Defense Department and FBI, the New York Times reports.
Lawyers for Trump, Pete Hegseth, his choice for the Pentagon; and Kash Patel, his pick to run the FBI, have warned journalists of possible lawsuits over statements said or written in the past few weeks. Such lawsuits rarely result in a court victory, but they can be filed in hopes of achieving a chilling effect. And ABC News did just agree to pay up and issue a statement of regret for aired statements by Stephanopoulos. There was criticism of the network for settling, per the Daily Beast. "Knee bent. Ring kissed," Democratic lawyer Marc Elias posted on X. "Another legacy news outlet chooses obedience."
Trump and his allies also have floated seeking subpoenas of news organizations, prosecuting journalists and their sources once they're in office, pulling networks' broadcast licenses, and ending federal funding for public radio and television. Just before the election, a Trump lawyer sent the Times a 10-page letter claiming three articles it published were "deceptive, malicious, intentional, defamatory, disparaging, distorted, fabricated, false, and misleading." If the Times doesn't retract and apologize for the articles, Edward Andrew Paltzik wrote, "President Trump will have no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights." The lawyer closed with, "BE GUIDED ACCORDINGLY." (More President-elect Trump stories.)
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