Personal liability for slander and abuse of process?

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by nosborne48, Dec 1, 2020.

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  1. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    I've been thinking about this lately. President Trump has consistently spewed all manner of reckless and false attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election. He has claimed that various state election officials and elected officials have conspired to defraud him of his "legitimate" election victory and second term. Sometimes he has named these people. Now to make these accusations with no evidence whatever constitutes slander. To sue these entities without any evidence to support his claims is the tort of abuse of process. There have been threats of violence against ordinary election volunteers spurred by Trump's nonsense. It seems to me that Trump may be personally liable for his statements and could be made to pay significant damages. It is true that political speech is unusually privileged in this country but the utter recklessness of his accusations may well put his actions outside the ambit of that protection. I expect to see lawsuits filed against him personally after January 20, 2021.
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Perhaps, although that would just elevate him to martyrdom in the eyes of his base.
     
  3. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Perhaps. But it is a very different thing to go into court without evidence and be thrown out than to be hauled INTO court and be required to produce evidence in your defense or admit on the record that no such evidence exists. That admission by itself might be damaging. Remember; there's absolutely nothing to keep the plaintiffs from requiring Trump to appear in person, be sworn, and forced upon pain of contempt to answer their questions truthfully.
     
  4. Acolyte

    Acolyte Active Member

    I'm not a lawyer, but I think in order to receive remedy, you would have to demonstrate damages. Usually the "adequate remedy at law" would first be a simple "cease and desist" order, and then if there were further losses or damages, you could pursue it further. But, like I said, I'm not a lawyer. By the time you got a ruling on something like this...it may not "matter any more" so to speak, as relationships that allow this kind of slander and abuse of process will have evolved and changed.
     
  5. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Oh yes. But I think damages can be shown. And an injunction against making similar statements in the future would be enforceable with contempt.
     
  6. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    Maybe a class action law suit for people that caught Covid 19?
     
  7. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Or a class action for all those who contributed to the fund for the lawsuits based on false representations.
     
  8. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    I'm not a lawyer, but Trump hired legal council that supposed to be competent. One expects that they would advise him not to act in such a way.
    Don't they know that filing lawsuit without sufficient evidence is problematic.
    And in news today I heard while driving that Rudy Giuliani has discussed a preemptive pardon for himself with President Donald Trump?
     
  9. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

  10. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    It would seem, to me, difficult to demonstrate that his statements were NOT connected to the conduct of his duties and, thus, exempt. I imagine that bar is set pretty high. That doesn't preclude the filings, but perhaps diminishes the odds of success?
     
  11. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I would tend to agree with you. So it's extra silly of me to argue legal stuff but I'm a silly man so, I would assume that the courts generally frown on untrue statements? Perhaps giving the untrue statement less latitude?
     
  12. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Well. We will see.
     
  13. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

  14. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

  15. SpoonyNix

    SpoonyNix Active Member

    Where do you all get your political info? What are your biggest sources of programming?
     
  16. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    DegreeInfo. ;)
     
    SpoonyNix and Rich Douglas like this.
  17. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member


    The Hill, The Federalist, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, The Town hall, The Daily Caller, Breitbart.
    Conservative talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, Marl Levine, Fox News, News Max (As of a week ago), some channels on YueTube,
    For left updates - CNN, MSNBC, ABC Huffpost, Politico, The Ringer.
     
  18. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Newsmax, OANN, Fox News, Facebook, and Twitter.
     
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  19. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    https://republicans-cha.house.gov/media/significant-events-2020-election-cycle

     
  20. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Lerner, not WorldNetDaily? It would seem to be your cup of tea.
     

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