In a New York Times article published on October 12 titled “Two Women Say Donald Trump Touched Them Inappropriately,” the paper published the accounts of Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks, women who brought forth sexual-assault allegations against the Republican candidate for president. As Trump was occupied with calling the piece a “TOTAL FABRICATION” on Twitter, his lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, was apparently contacting the Times demanding a removal, retraction, and apology. The Times lawyer, David McCraw, wasn’t having it.
In a letter to Kasowitz shared by Sydney Ember, a media reporter for the Times, McCraw outlines his reasons for why he won’t take the libel claim seriously, pointing to Trump’s own actions throughout the years:
“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 pageant 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.”
“But there is a larger and much more important point here,” he continued. “The women quoted in our story spoke out on an issue of national importance … It would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices.”
Read the full letter, below:
