Trump campaign sues New York Times for libel over 2019 op-ed | TheHill

President TrumpDonald John TrumpWinners and losers from the South Carolina debate Five takeaways from the Democratic debate Democrats duke it out in most negative debate so far MORE's reelection campaign is suing The New York Times for libel, claiming that the newspaper knowingly published false information about the president in an op-ed last year.The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court on Wednesday, accuses the Times of intentionally defaming Trump with an op-ed claiming that his 2016 campaign had an "overarching deal" with Russia."The statements were and are 100 percent false and defamatory," Jenna Ellis, a lawyer for the campaign, said in a statement."The complaint alleges The Times was aware of the falsity at the time it published them, but did so for the intentional purpose of hurting the campaign, while misleading its own readers in the process,” Ellis added.A spokesperson for the Times pushed back on the lawsuit, signaling that the newspaper planned to fight it."The Trump Campaign has turned to the courts to try to punish an opinion writer for having an opinion they find unacceptable," the Times spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.