Trump Threatens Lawsuit If Pulitzer Committee Won't Retract Prizes For NYT And Post

What even is this shit?

(photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Today’s episode of “No, This Cannot Possibly Be Real!” features a “spoiliation” letter from an attorney for the former president addressed to the administrator of the Pulitzer Prize. Donald Trump is bigly mad that the 2018 awards to the New York Times and Washington Post for their Russia coverage haven’t been revoked, and he wants the Pulitzer people to get right on that.

“[I]t has recently become apparent that the subject articles were based on incontrovertibly false information provided by dubious sources who were maliciously attempting to mislead the public and tarnish our client’s reputation,” lawyer Alina Habba huffs, before referring to the recent indictments of Steele Dossier sources Michael Sussman and Igor Danchenko.

Apparently Trump is pissed that the Pulitzer site still refers to the articles as “deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation’s understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the President-elect’s transition team and his eventual administration.”

And this is defamation because, ummm, “By failing to remove these statements, revoke the award, or even publicly comment on the illegitimate nature of the works, the Pulitzer Prize Board is actively advancing the false narrative contained therein and promoting defamatory statements against our client.”

Never mind that the prize encompassed a full year of coverage, including stories about Russia’s social media influence operation and coordination with Wikileaks, Don Jr.’s cack-handed effort to get dirt from a Russian spy — “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.” — Michael Flynn’s promise to the Russian ambassador to ditch sanctions once Trump got elected, and FBI Director James Comey’s dismissal. None of which has been disproven.

In fact, only one of the stories for which the prize was awarded had the dossier as its main focus. It referred to the document as “controversial” and acknowledged that the FBI might have paid investigator Chris Steele.

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Nevertheless, Trump demands that the prizes be unceremoniously yanked OR ELSE.

Based on the foregoing, it is hereby demanded that the Pulitzer Prize Board take immediate steps to strip the New York Times and The Washington Post of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. Pulitzer Prize Board’s failure to do so will result in prompt legal action being taken against it. Please be guided accordingly.

No doubt, they will be so guided. They will treat this letter with all the seriousness it deserves.

As we’ve mentioned here, there are Trump lawyers, and there are Trump lawyers. Ms. Habba, who leads a three-lawyer firm near the former president’s golf club in New Jersey, is definitely the former. As the Washington Post reported, she was recently general counsel to a parking garage, which no doubt prepared her for a breach of contract suit seeking $100 million in damages from the New York Times and Trump’s niece Mary Trump. Which is … not how contract law works.

Anyway, good to know the former president remains in fine form.

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Well, good luck to ’em. Hope Ms. Habba got paid up front.


Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.