Former President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay the New York Times nearly $400,000 in legal fees after his unsuccessful lawsuit against the paper that alleged an “insidious plot” to obtain his personal tax records.
New York Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed wrote in a decision posted on the court docket on Friday that “the court finds that $392,638.69 is a reasonable value” for the legal fees that the paper and three of its reporters incurred in a lawsuit that the former lost last year.
In 2021, the former president sued three New York Times journalists and his niece, Mary Trump, alleging that they conspired to obtain and publish his tax records, which he had sought to keep private.
The lawsuit, which sought $100 million in damages, accused the paper and its reporters of relentlessly seeking out Mary Trump as a source of information and persuading her to turn over confidential tax records, arguing in the 26-page complaint that his niece and the reporters “were motivated by a personal vendetta against him.”
New York Judge Robert Reed dismissed part of the lawsuit in May 2023, ruling that the reporters and the paper were protected under the First Amendment, the defendants were “undisputedly engaged in routine newsgathering,” and are entitled to recover their legal fees.
In dismissing the case, the judge wrote that legal news gathering is “at the very core of protected First Amendment activity.”
A portion of the lawsuit that names Mary Trump remains pending as, in a separate ruling on Friday, the judge denied a request by the former president’s niece that the case be put on hold while she appeals.
In a book, Mary Trump has admitted to leaking the records to the New York Times.
President Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said that they are pleased that the court has “once again affirmed the strength of our claims against Mary and is denying her attempt to avoid accountability.”
“We look forward to proceeding with our claims against her,” Mr. Habba added.
Mary Trump’s lawyers declined to comment.
Background
President Trump’s 2021 lawsuit alleged that the reporters knew that Mary Trump was subject to a settlement agreement that prohibited her from disclosing the tax records, which she had obtained in a legal dispute over the estate of Fred Trump, the former president’s father.
She allegedly smuggled the tax records out of her attorney’s office and turned them over to the reporters.
“All the while, the parties knew full well that their actions were wrongful, as evidenced by their insistence on communicating through ‘burner’ phones and The Times initial claims that the records were obtained from an ‘anonymous’ source,” the complaint reads.
President Trump accused the New York Times of profiting off the confidential records by publishing various articles on their basis.
“Donald J. Trump’s public service to this great country aside, it is of paramount importance to note that he is a private citizen who is entitled to the same contractual rights, privileges and protections as any other person,” reads the complaint, which stated that the former president had suffered “significant damages” due to the “illicit actions” of the defendants.
The New York Times used the documents to publish a lengthy article in 2018 that claimed that, during the 1990s, Donald Trump allegedly participated in dubious tax and other financial schemes.
The judge sided with the New York Times, arguing that the First Amendment affords protections for newsgathering.
Tax Records
President Trump’s tax records have been the subject of scrutiny and controversy, including when the New York Times published a story about them about a month before the 2020 presidential election, showing that he paid $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017.
At the time, the former president accused the paper of having obtained the tax records “illegally” and reporting on them with “only bad intent.”
He also insisted that he’s paid a considerable amount of taxes over the years but that for some years, he was entitled to tax credits and depreciation, which lowered his tax bill.
According to an overview of President Trump’s tax records released in 2022 by the House Ways and Means Committee, he paid just over $1.1 million in taxes over the course of his presidency.
Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times