Trump’s Truth Social sued the Washington Post last month alleging libel and slander against the social media platform, U.S. Pres. Donald Trump, and Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes.
A May 13 article entitled, ‘Trust linked to porn-friendly bank could gain a stake in Trump’s Truth Social’ is at the core of the defamation claim.
“Both Pres. Trump and Nunes are public figures big time, so they have to show actual malice or a reckless disregard for the truth," said John Coale, lead attorney for Pres. Trump.
The lawsuit, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) v WP Company was filed in the same court by the same attorney who sued Sarasota reporter Chris Anderson and Guardian News in April.
As previously reported in the Florida Record, Devin G. Nunes v Guardian News and Media, et al took issue with an article titled 'Federal investigators examined Trump Media for possible money laundering, sources say.’
The May 20 complaint was filed in Sarasota’s Circuit Court for the 12th Judicial Circuit.
“I think that the two lawsuits might be consolidated later by the courts,” Coale told the Florida Record. “That's what usually happens.”
Among the statements in question in the Washington Post article is: “A Russian banker connected to the porn industry could have gained a stake in Trump’s Truth Social according to document.
“The express meaning and defamatory gist of WaPo’s Statements are that TMTG committed securities fraud or aided, abetted, and participated in improper acts designed to conceal material facts from the SEC and shareholders of Digital World Acquisition (DWAC), and that TMTG was being investigated for money laundering,” wrote attorney Jason Kobal on behalf of TMTG in the lawsuit. “In order to further spread the smear and increase the damage to TMTG, WaPo engaged agents from both within and outside the company to broadly republish the defamation.”
Kobal did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Russian connection allegation could lead the plaintiffs to victory, according to Coale.
"They have a possibility with the reckless disregard of the truth because it is based on the Russia stuff, it went on forever and it turns out, in the end, there was nothing there," he said. "You had the Durham report, special counsel, and you had all these things come out in the end, so they got a good shot there."
Coale represents Trump in his litigation against Twitter that is currently pending with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California.
Trump and other conservatives allege in Trump v Twitter that they were banned on social media in violation of the First Amendment.
“You can't rely on statements from the federal government to be true because that's a political rival," Coale added. "They checked everything that Trump ever said in his administration so I don't think a statement coming from the Biden administration is a viable defense.”