Trump and His Picks Threaten More Lawsuits Over Critical Coverage

[eohrnberger]

Propaganda is not illegal.

When propaganda includes defamation it is illegal, per the defamation statues.

ABC was not convicted of defamation.

No, but they admitted their (Stephanopoulos') guilt with such a large settlement the defamation case, to avoid further court proceedings.
It is reasonable to believe that ABC executives thought a full court proceeding would have cost them far more, hence they decision to settle before the full court proceedings.

Let's face the facts. Stephanopoulos is no 'journalist', he's little more than a political hatchet man left over from the Clinton administration, and democratic operative propped up to be some sort of 'journalist'.

So I don’t understand what you are talking about.

Ahh, yes, the willfully ignorance defense.
You know, your performance of feigning this wilful ignorance is so perfect, it's hard to tell if it's real ignorance or not.

 

[Bodecea]

"The small flurry of threatened defamation lawsuits is the latest sign that the incoming Trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage. Before and after the election, Mr. Trump and his allies have discussed subpoenaing news organizations, prosecuting journalists and their sources, revoking networks’ broadcast licenses and eliminating funding for public radio and television.

“There’s been a pattern and practice for the past couple of years of using defamation litigation as a tactic to harass or test the boundary of case law,” said Ms. McNamara, who represented ABC News and Mr. Stephanopoulos but was speaking in general. (Her law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine, has also represented The New York Times.)

Over the past several weeks, lawyers for Mr. Trump and two of his most high-profile nominees — Pete Hegseth, the potential defense secretary, and Kash Patel, whom Mr. Trump has picked to run the F.B.I. — warned journalists and others of defamation lawsuits for what they had said or written.

Mr. Patel, who held senior positions in the first Trump administration, said before the election that he would use a job in the next administration “to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.”

Mr. Patel’s most recent threat was aimed not at a journalist but at Olivia Troye, who was a senior aide to Vice President Mike Pence. In a recent MSNBC appearance, Ms. Troye denounced Mr. Patel as a delusional liar. Mr. Patel’s lawyer, Jesse R. Binnall, fired off a letter demanding that she publicly retract her remarks. Absent a retraction, he wrote, “Mr. Patel will take swift legal action to uphold his rights and reputation.”"

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The government shall brook no dissent.

Kind of ironic, coming from the cultivators of disinformation.

 

[Bodecea]

It's our legal system. They've gone after Trump and his supporters and now it's the other side of the coin. Good for the goose, good for the gander.

 

[post]

There are different ways to punish those who criticize anyone in government.
What do you mean by "punish"? Primary them? Indict them on a bogus or legitimate crime? Expose them by making them present credible evidence against a government official? Call them out as unverifiable conspirators?

Be specific because "punish" is a very vague word.

ABC Network appesrs to have paid “omertà” to a future Trump Lie-braty as a business decision. Agreeing to settle Trump’s suit saves face for him and avoids a deposition of Trump under oath.

Post an example of a Trump deposition followed by a Trump civil suit victory.

Trump’s ability to suppress criticism by simply threatening to sue is strengthened by ABC’s capitulation in a lawsuit they could have defended against. A for profit corporation is not in business to do what is best for society, if at odds with perceived business opportunity.

Trump as POTUS is supposed to prioritize doing what is best for society. That just isn’t going to happen, his middle name is
“Sign this NDA if you want to work for me!”
His threats to sue have the effect of an NDA, AKA Non-Disclosure coercion.