New York Times 'Absolutely Incorrect' As To Why ABA Never Published Donald Trump 'Libel Bully' Article

The ABA has a bone to pick with the New York Times.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump

[On Monday,] the New York Times published a story stating that the ABA refused to allow its Forum on Communications Law to publish an article in its online publication regarding Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s libel litigation history.

The ABA did not refuse to allow this article to be published. After learning about the proposed article, ABA senior staff did make some suggested edits, keeping in line with ABA policy to be non-partisan.

ABA staff offered to discuss the proposed changes with the publication’s editor. In response, the editor informed ABA staff that the author decided to publish the article elsewhere. Moreover, ABA policy does not give staff the authority to prevent an entity from publishing an article. To be clear, had the Forum wished to publish the article as originally submitted, it could have done so.

— A statement release by the American Bar Association in the wake of a New York Times piece by Adam Liptak about the article discussed above, by Susan Seager, which referred to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as a “libel bully.” Liptak reported that the ABA refused to publish the article due to a fear of being sued by Trump, but according to Carol Stevens, the ABA’s associate executive director for communications and media relations, that is “absolutely incorrect.”


Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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