There is a defamation trial going on against Fox News
The wake of Donald Trump: defending an ex-president from defamation and hush money in a grand jury trial
He’s due back in New York on Thursday under a dark legal cloud to answer more questions about his conduct, a week after becoming the first ex-president to be charged with a crime.
Last week, Trump pleaded not guilty in a case arising from a hush money payment to an adult film star. He is expected back in the city where he made his name in order to give a deposition in a civil case that claims he and three of his adult children were involved in a years-long fraud to enrich themselves.
The two trips show how entwined the legal battles are that are putting Trump’s delayed strategy of delay, denial and distraction to the ultimate test.
It’s not unusual for a person to be charged by the constitution with taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, but in this case that’s not what’s happening. The incredible personal and legal pressure on Trump also poses the question of how he can fully concentrate on the all-consuming effort of running a presidential campaign. Being a person who’s been accused in multiple legal cases will mean that the court dates are what dictate most of his schedule.
Trump’s classic tactic of trying to delay accountability was also on display Wednesday when lawyer Joe Tacopina asked the judge overseeing the Carroll lawsuit to delay the trial until the end of May. The jury pool could be tainted by media coverage of the Trump trial. President Trump is a subject of coverage by the media. The current situation is unique because the issue at the heart of this litigation is the same one covered by the recent coverage.
In recent weeks, Dominion’s case has picked up steam, though it’s still a high bar to prove defamation. The company has to convince the jury that people at Fox acted with malice because they knew the truth, or they acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
But he has also made some important decisions that have shaped the parameters of the case. In March, Judge Davis ruled against Fox, dismissing the news network’s argument that it was protected by the First Amendment because it reported the voter fraud allegations accurately.
On Thursday, Trump will be going back to New York where he gave a deposition last year before the lawsuit against him was filed. His position is more nuanced now since in a civil case, if a defendant takes the Fifth, a jury can make an “adverse inference” against them.
The former president accused the legal authorities of pursuing a political vendetta against him as he reacted to the lawsuit filed by James, a Democrat.
Similarly, he has responded to his indictment in Manhattan by accusing District Attorney Alvin Bragg, also a Democrat, of seeking to prevent him reclaiming the White House in his 2024 campaign. In an interview on Tuesday with Tucker Carlson on Fox, the ex-president said that he would stay in the presidential race if he was convicted of crimes and that he didn’t commit them.
Trump has denied sexually assaulting Carroll, who alleges Trump raped her in a New York department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. She sued Trump for defamation after he denied the rape claim and she said she made it to boost her book sales.
Correspondence to Bragg: Trump’s Case for Resolving the Mueller’s Controversy in the Court of Public Opinion
The ex-president, who has long been known for using the court system to pursue his interests, announced on Wednesday that he is going to file a $500 million lawsuit against his former personal attorney.
The move raised immediate suspicions that Trump was seeking to intimidate or silence Cohen, who testified before the Manhattan grand jury and is likely to be a key witness in Bragg’s prosecution. Prosecutors alleged that Trump tried to hide payments to Stormy Daniels to avoid hurting his campaign.
CNN legal analyst Karen Friedman Agnifilo said on “Erin Burnett OutFront” on Wednesday that Trump appeared to be trying to get around the judge’s warning that the matter should not be tried in the court of public opinion. “The timing is suspect, the claims are suspect, and I also don’t logistically see how this is going to work,” Agnifilo, a former chief assistant district attorney in Manhattan, said.
The Judiciary Chairman of the House stepped up his effort to derail Bragg’s investigation in order to weaken him in the eyes of voters, and his move was supported by Trump’s allies. The Ohio Republican announced a slate of witnesses for a field hearing of his committee in New York on Monday as he attempts to make a case that Bragg went after Trump for political reasons.
A series of recent pretrial rulings has provided more clarity on how Judge Davis operates, and shows he has taken steps to reassure both parties that he had not predetermined the outcomes.
In the Courtroom 7E, Murdoch Media’s biggest figures will be accompanied by a throng of high-powered lawyers trying to convince a judge to throw out a case that has captured the world’s attention.
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It’s, frankly, extraordinary to write those words. When I watched Fox News broadcast election lies in the aftermath of the 2020 election, never did I expect the network to be held accountable in a meaningful way.
But this time is different. This time, the normal tricks the network turns to during times of crisis will not free it from trouble. This time, in a court of law, the network will need to put forward an honest, fact-driven argument.
