An attempt by Donald Trump's lawyers to get a defamation lawsuit tossed out of court hit a snag after the opposing counsel stated their claim contained a fatal flaw.
According to a report from Law & Crime, the filing submitted in New York on Friday came from lawyers representing the so-called "Central Park Five" who are suing the president-elect for defamation over comments he made during a presidential debate in September.
The five men claim in a federal lawsuit that Trump acted with “reckless disregard” for the truth when he claimed during the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that they pleaded guilty to crimes connected to an assault on a woman in New York City, and that they “badly hurt a person, killed a person” in the attack.
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They were later exonerated.
In Friday's filing, attorneys for the men stated that a motion for dismissal of the suit cited a non-applicable law.
As Law & Order is reporting, "'Defendant invokes Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP statute,' the motion reads. 'While the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet spoken on this issue, district courts within the Third Circuit have concluded that state anti-SLAPP statutes do not apply in federal court.'"
As part of the response, the Central Park Five's lawyer wrote, "“Here, Defendant’s statements that Plaintiffs pled guilty to a crime and that someone was killed can be verified as true or false — they are both false.Moreover, even where a statement can plausibly be interpreted as opinion, dismissal is still unwarranted if the statement could also be interpreted as a statement of fact," before adding, "Defendant’s letter completely fails to address the fact that Plaintiffs were never accused of killing anyone. Defendant’s statement at the debate that Plaintiffs ‘killed a person’ was fabricated from whole cloth.”
You can read more here.
