"There's a certain irony in the fact that President Donald Trump announced his silly $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times scant days after a federal appellate court dismissed a similar claim against Fox News. That lawsuit was filed by Nina Jankowicz, the former head of the Biden administration's short-lived Disinformation Governance Board. The lawsuits suffer from a common defect: They seek to turn hyperbolic criticism of a government official into grounds for civil damages."
"The Trump lawsuit is leading the news, and it's easy to see why. He seeks $15 billion in damages for a litany of grievances against the Times, which, in his telling, has been spreading false and defamatory content about him, during both his terms and in between. Yet on even a quick reading of the lengthy complaint, nearly everything cited is either fair comment, opinion, or for other reasons not actionable."
"To understand the problem with Trump's suit, it might be helpful to turn first to last Friday's opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which affirmed the dismissal of Jankowicz's claim that she'd been defamed by Fox News. The Disinformation Governance Board could one imagine a more Orwellian name? was an advisory committee to the Department of Homeland Security, announced with fanfare in April 2022,"
President Donald Trump filed a $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times alleging repeated false and defamatory coverage across and between his terms. Many claims in the complaint primarily involve fair comment, opinion, or nonactionable statements. A similar suit by Nina Jankowicz against Fox News was dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which affirmed that hyperbolic criticism of a government official does not support defamation damages. The Disinformation Governance Board was short-lived, provoked fierce criticism, and Jankowicz faced extensive targeting. It should be exceptionally difficult for officials, especially presidents, to convert criticism into civil liability.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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