Top Trump aide Chris LaCivita sues the Daily Beast – Business News
A senior political adviser to President Trump slapped the Daily Beast with a defamation lawsuit over its reporting on how a lot he was paid by the marketing campaign.
Chris LaCivita, a supervisor of Trump’s re-election marketing campaign, claims the Barry Diller-owned tabloid information web site created “the false impression” that he was “personally profiting excessively from his work on the campaign and that he was prioritizing personal gain over the campaign’s success,” in accordance with the criticism filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday.
The lawsuit stems from the Daily Beast’s article printed on October 15, 2024, with the headline: “Trump In Cash Crisis-As Campaign Chief’s $22m Pay Revealed.”
Former Trump marketing campaign adviser Chris LaCivita filed a defamation swimsuit in opposition to the Daily Beast over its reporting on how a lot he was paid by the marketing campaign. Bloomberg through Getty Images
Penned by freelance journalist Michael Isikoff, who was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, the article claims LaCivita had negotiated a sequence of contracts and was paid tens of millions of {dollars} over two years from the marketing campaign.
The allegations have been repeated in a number of follow-up articles and mentioned on a Daily Beast podcast hosted by editor in chief Joanna Coles.
A number of weeks after publication, LaCivita’s attorneys demanded a correction and a retraction, saying public data from the Federal Election Commission conflicted with statements in the article.
The Daily Beast corrected the article a few days after the Nov. 5 demand by altering the quantity to $19.2 million from $22 million and clarified that the funds went to LaCivita’s consulting firm fairly than to him personally.
The financial determine was up to date and mirrored in the headline and the article was accompanied by an editor’s be aware.
The Daily Beast up to date its October 2024 article, which initially claimed LaCivita was paid $22 million. thedailybeast.com
The Daily Beast additionally scrubbed its podcast episode, dubbed “How Has Trump’s Campaign Manager Made $22 MILLION?,” from its platform after LaCivita’s attorneys demanded more retractions in January.
The Daily Beast “should have investigated and followed the money before publishing lies in order to get clicks and push their political agenda,” stated LaCivita’s lawyer Mark Geragos, who has defended high-profile figures like Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder and Chris Brown.
LaCivita isn’t looking for a certain amount in damages however is as an alternative permitting the quantity to be decided at trial. According to Axios, the case is being funded by the Republican National Committee.
Barry Diller’s Daily Beast was slapped with a defamation lawsuit on Monday over its Chris LaCivita article. Leap Photography / Shutterstock
“The Daily Beast stands by its reporting on Chris LaCivita. His lawsuit is meritless and a transparent attempt to intimidate the Beast and silence the independent press,” a rep for the media company shot back.
“The Beast will defend itself vigorously and looks forward to following the money to confirm where every penny flowed in LaCivita’s LLC.”
The lawsuit comes at a tough time for the Daily Beast, which has undergone a large overhaul underneath Coles, who has been panned by present and former workers for her bulldozing management model.
Those embody large layoffs and a latest gutting of the outlet’s DC bureau, a former Daily Beast worker advised The Post.
“Joanna Coles has had quite a run at the Daily Beast when you really think about it; she’s been sued over false reporting, made enemies with her entire staff, and successfully destroyed the Washington, DC, news bureau,” the individual stated.
The lawsuit is the newest instance of defamation and different legal squabbles that Trump and his allies have filed in opposition to media retailers whose protection, they declare, was deceptive or inaccurate.
Trump has excellent lawsuits in opposition to CBS News, the Des Moines Register and CNN. Although defamation circumstances are historically onerous to show, ABC settled its defamation case with Trump in December for $16 million.
