Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times has been dismissed by a federal judge
A federal judge dismissed President Donald Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times, calling it a legally unfounded one.
President Donald Trump appeared to be publicly putting pressure on the Attorney General to take legal action against some of his political enemies in a series of social media posts on Saturday, September 21.
“We can’t delay it anymore. It kills our reputation and credibility,” Trump said in a post about True Social Society addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondy. “Justice must be provided, now!!!”
The president has appointed former FBI director James Comey, Democrat Sen. Adam Schiff, and New York State Attorney General Letitia James for the post. He reviewed dozens of statements about current and former officials, saying “nothing has been done” about them.
Comey, Schiff and James have all been the subject of intense rage from the president for many years, dating back to his first term.
Comey led an investigation into alleged charges between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. The president fired Comey in May 2017. One of Trump’s most vocal critics, Schiff led the first blunder each effort against the president on communications with Ukrainian President Voldimee Zelensky.
James is suing the Trump administration for cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Enforcement Bureau on elections that she says are unconstitutional. She secured a $5 billion civil fraud ruling against Trump last year, but the penalty was later dumped by the appeals court.
James and Schiff are subject to a DOJ mortgage fraud investigation. Both denied fraud and called for inquiries that were personal or politically motivated.
On September 20th, Trump also announced that he was nominating Senior White House aide Lindsay Harrigan to take over as US lawyer for the Eastern District of Virginia.
He will replace Eric Shebert, a lawyer who oversaw the investigation into criminal mortgage fraud against James before leaving the Post on September 19, according to the New York Times, Washington Post and other outlets.
“He didn’t stop, I fired him!” Trump added that of Sheebert on the true society, he had drawn his name to “unusually strong support” from the state’s Democrat senator.
Sheebert reportedly notified the Department of Justice that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the charges against James, and he also raised concerns about another lawsuit against Comey.
Siebert’s Office was also involved in the criminal investigation of a former FBI director in connection with the agency’s Russian election interference probe.
On September 21, Trump once again spoke to his Attorney General, repeating Harrigan’s praise, saying that she would provide “deeply necessary” justice to everyone.
“Pam Bondy does an incredible job as U.S. Attorney General,” Trump said. “She is very careful, very smart and loves our country, but like my recommendation, Lindsay Harrigan, it’s necessary for a strict prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia to get things going.”
Contributed by Francesca Chambers, USA Today.
Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA Today. You can contact her kapalmer@usatoday.com And with x @Kathrynplmr.
