Trump fires off another legal threat
Former president Donald Trump is at it again. He has launched another lawsuit, his fourth in the last three years. No sooner has the ink dried on his letter to Simon & Schuster threatening to sue the publisher and former New York criminal prosecutor Mark Pomerantz over the forthcoming publication of People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account, he has now launched legal action against Bob Woodward over The Trump Tapes: the Historical Record, an audiobook also published by S&S.
The audiobook is based on interviews recorded for Woodward’s 2021 book Rage (S&S). What is puzzling is that Trump happily participated in these interviews, even sounding friendly to Woodward, one of the most respected figures in political journalism who made his name with All the President’s Men, his account of the Watergate scandal.
Trump’s lawyers have filed the case in Florida and say: “This case centres on Mr. Woodward’s systematic usurpation, manipulation, and exploitation of audio of President Trump gathered in connection with a series of interviews conducted by Mr. Woodward. Said audio was protected material, subject to various limitations on use and distribution—as a matter of copyright, license, contract, basic principles of the publishing industry, and core values of fairness and consent.”
In a joint statement in response, Woodward and his lawyers say: “Former President Trump’s lawsuit is without merit and we will aggressively defend against it. All these interviews were on the record and recorded with President Trump’s knowledge and agreement. Moreover, it is in the public interest to have this historical record in Trump’s own words. We are confident that the facts and the law are in our favour.”
