All of this stuff about Trump would be really funny if there wasn’t still a chance he could win. (This is America, after all. Remember what P.T. Barnum said) But, even so, it’s still funny. A few random observations today.
In the “even a stopped clock” department: I came across this about Steve Bannon, the CEO of Donald Trump’s campaign, referring to scammer Paul Ryan:
“Ryan’s agenda is not in line with the American worker. It’s in line with the Wall Street wing of the permanent political class,” the source close to Bannon said.
via Down with Tyranny quoting the Hill
It’s hard to argue with that, though what he thinks Donald Trump would do about it is a mystery.
But, that’s not really all that funny, just more of the same from the Trump campaign. What is funny, at least to anyone with a law degree, is the letter that Donald’s lawyers sent to the New York Times after the Times published what is now the first of many stories about women coming forward with stories about Donald (looks like it’s going full Cosby).
Here’s the last paragraph:
We hereby demand that you immediately cease any further publication of this article, remove it from your website and issue a full and immediate retraction and apology. Failure to do so will leave my client with no option but to pursue all available actions and remedies. (Emphasis added)
Any lawyer worth his or her salt can translate that last line for you. It means: If you don’t retract that article, we won’t do a damn thing, because we know we have no case.
Even Jake Tapper, who, so far as I know, is not a lawyer, saw through it. (It’s on Twitter, but I can’t seem to get a usable link) The Times lawyers did too, and I can assure you they had a splendid time penning this response. I particularly enjoyed this paragraph, which makes the obvious point that Trump has no reputation worth protecting:
The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one’s reputation. Mr. Trump has bragged about his non-consensual sexual touching of women. He has bragged about intruding on beauty contestants in their dressing rooms. He acquiesced to a radio host’s request to discuss Mr. Trump’s own daughter as a “piece of ass.” Multiple women not mentioned in our article have publicly come forward to report on Mr. Trump’s unwanted advances. Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself.
Whew! And just imagine how much fun they’d have doing discovery.
I don’t have proof, but I’d hazard a guess that Donald Trump only sues down: people and businesses that don’t have the financial wherewithal to defend against a phalanx of lawyers. He’ll never sue the Times. They know it, and he knows it. But if he really decides to do so, I’d advise his lawyers to get a hefty retainer up front, because after they lose they’ll never get a dime out of him.
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