President Trump's senior political adviser slapped the Daily Beast in a defamation lawsuit over a report on how much he was paid by the campaign.
Trump's reelection campaign manager Chris Lacivita argues that the tabloid news site owned by Barry Diller created a “false impression” that “he personally benefits from the campaign work and prioritizes the personal benefits of the campaign's success.”
The lawsuit comes from the Daily Beast's article It was published on October 15th, 2024 with the headline “Trump in the Cash Crisis – Revealing $22 million salary as campaign chief.”
Michael Ishikov, who has not been appointed defendant in a lawsuit written by freelance journalist Michael Ishikov, claims that Rashivita negotiated a series of contracts and was paid millions of dollars over two years from the campaign.
The allegations were repeated in several follow-up articles and discussed in the Daily Beast Podcast, hosted by Prime Minister Joanna Coles' editors.
A few weeks after its release, Lacivita's lawyers called for revision and withdrawal, saying the Federal Election Commission's public records were inconsistent with the statements of the article.
Daily Beast revised the article by revealing that it had changed from $22 million to $19.2 million a few days after November 5th, and that the funds had been sent to Lacivita's consulting firm, not him.
Financial figures were updated and reflected in the headlines, and articles accompanied by editor's notes.
The Daily Beast also scrubed episodes of the podcast, calling out, “How did Trump's campaign manager make $22 million?” From that platform after Lacivita's lawyers demanded more withdrawals in January.
Lacivita's lawyer Mark Jelagos, who defended famous figures such as Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder and Chris Brown, said:
Lacivita does not seek compensation, but instead allows the amount to be determined in court. According to axiosthe case is funded by the Republican National Committee.
“The Daily Beast is based on a report on Chris Lacivita. His lawsuit is useless, a transparent attempt to threaten the beast and silence independent reporting,” a media company official shot back.
“The beast protects itself violently and looks forward to chasing money and see where every penny has flown at the LLC in Lacivita.”
This lawsuit comes at a difficult time for Daily Beasts. The Daily Beast has undergone a major overhaul under Coles.
These include massive layoffs and recent eruptions from the outlet's DC station.
“Joanna Coles was running pretty well with the Daily Beast when you really think about it. She was accused of false reports, and made all the staff and enemies, and successfully destroyed the Washington, DC News Station,” the person said.
The lawsuit is the latest example of stigma and other legal disputes, filed against a media outlet that Trump and his allies allegedly misleading or inaccurate reports.
Currently, Trump has filed an unresolved lawsuit against CBS News, Des Moines Register and CNN. While traditionally difficult to prove, the ABC resolved the honour-loss case with Trump for $16 million in December.
