(CN) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused his niece, Mary Trump, The New York Times and three of its reporters of conspiring against him in an “insidious plot” to obtain his sensitive records.
In a suit filed in Dutchess County, New York, Trump claims the defendants breached his contractual rights and maliciously conspired against him, and he is seeking damages in an amount of no less than $100,000,000.
“The defendants’ actions were motivated by a personal vendetta and their desire to gain fame, notoriety, acclaim and a financial windfall and were further intended to advance their political agenda,” the suit filed by attorney Alina Habba claims.
In addition to Mary Trump, who wrote the book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,” — which was also the subject of a legal battle — the suit names as defendants reporters Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russell Buettner, who collectively won a Pulitzer Prize in 2019 for explanatory reporting for an investigation into Trump's finances.
“The brazenness of the defendants’ actions cannot be understated,” the 27-page lawsuit states. “A group of journalists with the New York Times, in the middle of an extensive crusade to obtain Donald J. Trump’s confidential tax records, relentlessly sought out his niece, Mary L. Trump, and convinced her to smuggle the records out of her attorney’s office and turn them over to The Times.”
The suit alleges the defendants knew their actions were wrong because they communicated through burner phones and The Times’ initially claimed records were obtained from an anonymous source. It adds that the newspaper, the reporters and Mary Trump capitalized on the records through news articles and Mary Trump’s book.
“I knocked on Mary Trump’s door. She opened it. I think they call that journalism,” Craig said on Twitter Tuesday night.
The suit repeats a claim made in the unsuccessful challenge to the publication of her book that Mary Trump breached a nondisclosure and confidentiality agreement in a settlement relating to her grandfather Fred Trump Sr.'s estate.
Speaking to the Daily Beast, which first reported on Trump’s latest lawsuit, Mary Trump used one of her uncle’s favorite words to describe him.
“I think he is a fucking loser, and he is going to throw anything against the wall he can,” she said.
A spokesperson for the New York Times reportedly said in a statement that the newspaper’s coverage of Trump’s taxes “helped inform citizens through meticulous reporting on a subject of overriding public interest.”
“This lawsuit is an attempt to silence independent news organizations and we plan to vigorously defend against it,” the statement continued.
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