The New York Times lawyers are not having any of Donald Trump's lawsuit threats
A lawyer for the New York Times just issued a letter back to a lawyer for Donald Trump.
It started nice enough. But you'll want to read to the end.
Hell, life is short. Here's the money quote:
We published newsworthy information about a subject of deep public concern. If Mr. Trump disagrees, if he believes that American citizens had no right to hear what these women had to say and that the law of this country forces us and those who would dare to criticize him to stand silent or be punished, we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.
Reports emerged on Wednesday night — following an article from the Times in which two women alleged that they had been groped by Trump — that The Donald was preparing a lawsuit against the paper.
Trump repeated that threat during a speech on Thursday.
Trump's Lawyer issued a letter on Wednesday night demanding that the Times take the article down and issue a retraction and apology.
David McCraw, a lawyer for the Times who wrote the letter, noted that a libel lawsuit (the presumed statute under which Trump would sue the Times) takes into account the impact of a story on the subject's reputation.
McCraw noted that Trump himself had been taped bragging about sexually assaulting women, as well as having talked about his own daughter, Ivanka Trump, as a "piece of ass."
"Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself," McCraw wrote.
The letter provided a clear message: The Times is not too worried.
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The letter, issued publicly on the New York Times Company website, can be read in its entirety below.
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Topics Donald Trump Elections
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
