By Zoë Richards -
NBC News
A New York judge on Wednesday dismissed the lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against The New York Times newspaper in 2021 and has ordered the former president to pay the attorneys' fees for the newspaper and three of its journalists listed as defendants.
In his ruling on Wednesday, Judge Robert R. Reed of the state Supreme Court in New York County said Trump's claims against the newspaper and three of its journalists for his Pulitzer-winning series about his undisclosed finances in 2018 “fail as a matter of constitutional law.”
(Supreme Court is the name of the highest trial court in New York.)
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“Courts have long recognized that reporters have the right to engage in lawful, ordinary newsgathering activities without fear of tort liability, as these actions are at the very core of activity protected by the First Amendment,” Reed wrote.
Reed, a Democrat, also ordered Trump to pay the newspaper and its journalists attorneys' fees, legal expenses and legal costs.
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Reed's ruling is a defeat for Trump, who filed a $100 million lawsuit in 2021 against the Times, his niece Mary Trump and others.
The lawsuit alleged that Mary Trump and three journalists from the newspaper - Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner - "engaged in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly sensitive records that they exploited for their own gain and used as a means to falsely legitimize their jobs." advertised".
Trump's lawyers argued that the Times had played a role of "tortious interference" with a contract, knowingly breaching its contractual rights with his niece from a 2001 settlement agreement that bound her to confidentiality and nondisclosure of certain records.
Citing New York court precedents, Reed dismissed the tortious interference claim "because The Times defendants' purpose in reporting a newsworthy story constitutes legal justification."
He further argued that the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press to report on newsworthy matters protects against such claims.
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The Times welcomed the decision.
“The New York Times is pleased with today's judge's decision.
It is an important precedent that reaffirms that the press is protected when it engages in routine newsgathering to obtain information of vital importance to the public," Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesman, said in a statement.
Although Wednesday's ruling dismisses the lawsuits against the Times and its journalists, no judgment has yet been entered on Mary Trump, who has also filed a motion to dismiss.
A spokesman and lawyer for Donald Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday night.
Neither did Mary Trump's lawyer.
Trump's lawsuit is just one example of his legal battles over the disclosure of his finances.
Although Trump tried for years to keep his tax records out of public view, breaking the precedent set by many of his predecessors and engaging in a lengthy court fight to keep them private, the House Ways and Means Committee finally found them. obtained and voted to make them public last year.