(PartiallyPolitics.com) – On Friday, New York Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed ruled that former President Donald Trump owes around $400,000 in legal fees to The New York Times following his lawsuit against the paper.
The judge argued Trump needed to pay the legal fees for the Times and three of its reporters for a lawsuit he had filed in 2021 against them and his niece, Mary Trump. Reed further ordered that reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig and the Times would receive $229,921, while reporter David Barstow would get $162,717.69.
Last May Reed had dismissed a lawsuit in which he accused the Times reporters and Mary Trump of having been part of a plot to gain access to confidential tax records that had been used by the reporters for a 2018 article targeting Trump’s “suspect tax schemes.”
In the lawsuit, Trump argued that the reporters had been liable after they had encouraged his niece to provide them access to confidential tax documents. He further alleged that his niece had breached confidentiality by providing them with access to the documents.
However, Reed in the ruling argued that the reporters were entitled to engage in “newsgathering” without being in fear. He added that this is something that the Courts have long recognized and that these activities are at the core of the First Amendment activity.
The Times spokesperson in a statement applauded the decision and argued that the court had sent a powerful message to those who wanted to misuse the justice system in order to silence journalists.
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