by Mark Schwendau
Former President Donald Trump’s social media company, Trump Media Technology Group (TMTG), is suing Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post for defamation over an article published earlier this month. They are seeking $3.78 billion in damages.
The lawsuit by TMTG, which owns Truth Social, was filed Saturday in a Florida State court in Sarasota County. The lawsuit accused one of America’s most famous newspapers of publishing a story of libel and slander that poses an “existential threat” to the Truth Social media company.
The Washington Post has yet to comment on the suit.
The suit alleges the Post “published an egregious hit piece that falsely accused TMTG of securities fraud and other wrongdoing” and “has been on a years-long crusade against TMTG characterized by the concealment of relevant information in its possession.”
“WaPo’s false criminal charges exposed TMTG to public ridicule, contempt, and distrust, and injured TMTG’s business and reputation,” the suit says.
This major legal action against the Washington Post seeking $3.7 billion in damages comes on the heels of a similar defamation settlement Fox News made with Dominion Voting Systems last month for $787.5 million.
“Plaintiff seeks (a) compensatory damages and punitive damages in the sum of $3,780,000,000.00 or such greater amount as is determined by the Jury, (b) prejudgment interest on the principal sum awarded by the Jury from May 13, 2023, to the date of Judgment at the rate of 6.58 percent per year, and (c) costs – arising out of Defendant’s defamation and conspiracy,” the suit states.
The suit charges, “WaPo’s false criminal charges exposed TMTG to public ridicule, contempt and distrust, and injured TMTG’s business and reputation.”
The suit adds, “WaPo has been on a years-long crusade against TMTG characterized by the concealment of relevant information in its possession—a bitterly ironic truth for a publication whose motto is ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness.’”
“WaPo’s latest defamation creates an existential threat for TMTG, causing enormous loss,” the lawsuit continues.
“TMTG brings this case to recover special damages to its business and goodwill, actual injury to its name and reputation, and punitive damages for WaPo’s gross misconduct,” the suit concludes.
The Washington Post has run several articles attacking Truth Social, so it is unclear which article(s) the suit references. Two recent ones we found were:
“Trust Linked to Porn-friendly Bank Could Gain a Stake in Trump’s Truth Social” references a supposed $8 million loan from a bank connected to the porn industry.
“He blew the whistle on Trump’s Truth Social. Now he works at Starbucks,” references a supposed former high-ranking executive of Trump’s media company who claims he’s shared 150,000 internal documents with federal investigators.
CONCLUSION:
It looks like former President Donald Trump took a page out of the Democrats playbook, making him appear in a biased New York court where a jury of his peers who did not represent him. Now, perhaps, Jeff Bezos will get the same experience having to appear in a Florida court. Then again, maybe he will do as Fox News did with Dominion and have a sacrificial lamb at the Washington Post.
Copyright © 2023 by Mark S. Schwendau
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Mark S. Schwendau is a retired technology professor who has always had a sideline in news-editorial writing where his byline has been, “Bringing little known news to people who simply want to know the truth.” He is a Christian conservative who God cast to be a realist. His website is www.IDrawIWrite.Tech.
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