Donald Trump Ordered To Pay Nearly $400,000 In Legal Fees To New York Times And Other Defendants After His Lawsuit Was Dismissed

Ted Johnson
·1 min read
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Former President Donald Trump was ordered to pay nearly $400,000 in legal fees and other costs to The New York Times and three reporters he had sued after they published a piece on his tax schemes.

New York Supreme Court judge Robert R. Reed ordered the former president to pay $392,638.69 to the Times and the reporters, Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner.

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Last year, Reed dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against them, finding that the state’s anti-SLAPP law applied. That law is designed to limit plaintiffs from filing litigation as a way to limit a defendant from exercising the right to free speech and public participation.

Trump filed suit against the Times and the reporters in 2021, claiming they caused his niece Mary Trump to take tax and financial documents held by her lawyer and violate a 2001 settlement agreement. Among other things, Trump claimed tortious interference with contract and unjust enrichment.

The judge wrote that “courts have long recognized that reporters are entitled to engage in legal and ordinary newsgathering activities without fear of tort liability — as these actions are at the very core of protected First Amendment activity.”

Reed wrote that the attorneys fee amount was a “reasonable value for the legal services rendered,” given the complexities of the case, among other factors.

Reed declined to dismiss all of Trump’s claims against Mary Trump, who also was named in the litigation. She is appealing that decision.

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