Headlined by Helen Coster and Jack Queen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Incoming President Donald Trump has initiated legal action against the Des Moines Register newspaper and its erstwhile chief pollster, just a day after he intensified his legal warnings against news organizations, hinting he might also contemplate suing social media personalities for slander.
The legal action, instituted Monday night in Polk County, Iowa, demands “responsibility for blatant election interference perpetrated by” the newspaper and pollster J. Ann Selzer concerning its poll released on Nov. 2. The said poll indicated Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris holding a three-point lead over Trump in Iowa.
According to the lawsuit, “Selzer’s polling ‘error’ was not a mere surprising coincidence—it was deliberate. As per President Trump’s observation: ‘She was fully aware of her actions.'”
The legal action asks for unspecified compensation and a directive preventing the Des Moines Register from involving in “continuing deceptive and misleading activities and practices” related to polling.
A spokesperson for the Des Moines Register asserted that the outlet stands by its reporting and considers the lawsuit to be baseless.
Selzer chose to remain silent on the matter.
The lawsuit by Trump was filed mere days after ABC News agreed to resolve a defamation lawsuit he had filed by donating $15 million to his presidential library and publicly apologizing for remarks made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, who incorrectly stated that the incoming president had been held accountable for rape.
Trump has publicized the settlement as a significant triumph, and signs already suggest that it might empower his legal team in their battles with media corporations.
Following Tuesday, Trump’s legal team referenced the ABC agreement in a letter to the judge supervising the incoming president’s copyright lawsuit against Simon & Schuster over audio recordings of an author’s interviews with Trump, expressing their hope that the book publisher will “emulate Mr. Stephanopoulos’ expression of regret.”
“Subsequent to President Trump’s decisive victory leading to his impending inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, there has been a rejuvenation of accountability among those who infringed his rights over the past four years,” stated Trump’s legal team.
Simon & Schuster did not immediately respond to a request for comment concerning the lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court.
Several legal experts have expressed concern that Trump’s remarks and legal maneuvers could potentially discourage news coverage of the forthcoming administration, despite strong legal safeguards for journalists at present.
Boston College School of Law professor Jeffrey Pyle comments, “The standard continues to be robust, the most robust in the Western world.”
Despite the potential failure of lawsuits by Trump, they could still pose challenges for news organizations by revealing potentially compromising internal communications and exposing journalists and executives to depositions.
In the ABC lawsuit, certain legal experts argued that the network could have emerged victorious since Stephanopoulos’ comments seemed to be an innocent error and not the kind of reckless disregard that Trump would need to demonstrate.
