Survivors: “We can’t accuse Trump because he’d sue for defamation…”
That’s really badly worded. It sounds like something someone would say if they were afraid that they’re guilty of defamation. But, truth is a complete defense against claims of defamation. The issue isn’t that he’d sue, the issue is that he’d hire the most aggressive lawyers who would bury them in paperwork. He’d also use non-legal means to attack them, like defaming them, getting his supporters to attack them (maybe physically). It’s likely they’d never even have their day in court.
If there weren’t such a massive power imbalance, him suing them for defamation would be ideal. Because the truth is an absolute defense against defamation claims, they could use legal discovery to see if he kept any records from that time. They could depose anybody who knew him who could substantiate their claims. In a fair fight, the last thing Trump would want to do is sue them, because it would give them the tools they’d want to prove their claims were true.
The issue is that it can never be a fair fight, so they can’t afford the legal risk to accuse him. Even if they could find some mega billionaire who was willing to fund their legal case (the way Peter Thiel funded Hulk Hogan’s defamation suit against Gawker), he’s still the president. As president, he’s immune from breaking the law, and could literally walk up to them and shoot them and get away with it.
On this bullet point:
That’s really badly worded. It sounds like something someone would say if they were afraid that they’re guilty of defamation. But, truth is a complete defense against claims of defamation. The issue isn’t that he’d sue, the issue is that he’d hire the most aggressive lawyers who would bury them in paperwork. He’d also use non-legal means to attack them, like defaming them, getting his supporters to attack them (maybe physically). It’s likely they’d never even have their day in court.
If there weren’t such a massive power imbalance, him suing them for defamation would be ideal. Because the truth is an absolute defense against defamation claims, they could use legal discovery to see if he kept any records from that time. They could depose anybody who knew him who could substantiate their claims. In a fair fight, the last thing Trump would want to do is sue them, because it would give them the tools they’d want to prove their claims were true.
The issue is that it can never be a fair fight, so they can’t afford the legal risk to accuse him. Even if they could find some mega billionaire who was willing to fund their legal case (the way Peter Thiel funded Hulk Hogan’s defamation suit against Gawker), he’s still the president. As president, he’s immune from breaking the law, and could literally walk up to them and shoot them and get away with it.