Former US president Donald Trump on Friday (January 12) was ordered to pay about USD 400,000 in legal costs to The New York Times following the dismissal of a lawsuit he filed against them. The former president accused three journalists of engaging in an “insidious plot” to obtain his tax documents for an investigative report published in 2018.
Trump had gone to court against The New York Times in September 2021. The 2018 investigative report went on to win the Pulitzer Prize.
The case against New York Times was dismissed in May 2023. The judge in the commercial division of the New York state Supreme Court ordered Trump pay the defendants the legal costs. The decision was issued on Friday.
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The judge, in their decision, said that the estimate of USD 392,638 in legal fees made by The New York Times was “reasonable”. The judge ordered Trump to reimburse them in full.
The NYT investigative report had described how Trump, a real estate tycoon from before his time in US presidential office, received equivalent of USD 413 million, adjusted for inflation, from his father. This revelation is contrary to Trump’s boasts for decades that he built his own business empire. The New York Times Report said that the massive wealth was transferred to Donald Trump through a shell company to avoid taxation.
Legal troubles of the former US prez
Trump is currently wading through a barrage of legal troubles that involve charges related to civil fraud, election interference, sexual assault and even alleged hush money payment to an adult movies star.
Trump has many firsts to his name but there is nothing boast about it. While in office, he became first-ever US president to be impeached twice. During his presidency, his supporters attacked US Capitol in January 2021. This was first attack on the iconic building since the last one which took place when the US was a British colony.
After he left office, he became the first sitting or former US president to be charged, indicted, arrested. He became first such president to appear as a defendant in court and first current/former president to be taken a mugshot of.
But all this has not diminished his popularity among Republican voters and he leads the pack of Republican party hopefuls who are vying for party nomination to contest US Presidential Election 2024.
(With inputs from agencies)
