'Chilled by meritless litigation': Trump raises 'not frivolous' immunity claim after failing to defeat Central Park 5 defamation lawsuit

Days aft a national justice refused to propulsion retired the exonerated Central Park Five's defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, backstage attorneys for the commander-in-chief are appealing connected admittedly "novel" immunity grounds and claiming that his protected code during a 2024 debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris is being "chilled by meritless litigation."

In a announcement of entreaty filed connected Thursday, nearly a week aft U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone ruled the plaintiffs' claims were not walled disconnected by Pennsylvania's anti-SLAPP (anti-strategic suit against nationalist participation) law, Trump brought distant "a caller question of law" for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to answer: does the state's Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA) use successful national court?

Antron Brown, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam filed the defamation suit successful October, saying that Trump had "falsely stated that Plaintiffs killed an idiosyncratic and pled blameworthy to the crime."

In 1989, the then-teenagers were wrongfully accused of raping Trisha Meili arsenic she jogged successful Central Park successful New York City. The 5 were besides accused of attacking 2 men that aforesaid night.

"While successful constabulary custody, Plaintiffs were each separately subjected to hours of coercive interrogation, nether duress, with nary lawyer contiguous and often without a genitor oregon guardian present," the suit recounted. "Plaintiffs each initially denied having immoderate cognition of the Central Park assaults. However, aft hours of interrogation, 4 of the Plaintiffs agreed to supply written and videotaped statements successful which they falsely admitted to having been contiguous during the assaults."

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The Central Park Five faced trials, maintained their innocence, were convicted by juries successful 1990 and were sent to prison, lone to beryllium exonerated decades aboriginal aft the existent attacker, Matias Reyes, admitted to the transgression against Meili and DNA "conclusively" proved that Reyes was the "true perpetrator," tribunal documents said.

Notably, the 5 did not plead blameworthy and were not accused of sidesplitting anyone — yet, during a nationally televised statesmanlike statement with Harris successful Pennsylvania successful September, Trump said: "They admitted – they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled blameworthy they severely wounded a person, killed a idiosyncratic ultimately."

The remarks were a effect to Harris' connection that, passim his beingness and career, Trump has "attempted to usage contention to disagreement the American people," and that an illustration of this was the "full-page ad" helium placed successful the New York Times and elsewhere successful 1989 "calling for the execution of 5 young Black and Latino boys who were guiltless — the Central Park Five — took retired a full-page advertisement calling for their execution."

In the advertisement astatine issue, Trump advocated for bringing backmost the decease punishment and alluded to the Central Park Five case:

Many New York families — White, Black, Hispanic and Asian — person had to springiness up the pleasance of a leisurely stroll successful the Park astatine dusk, the Saturday sojourn to the playground with their families, the motorcycle thrust astatine dawn, oregon conscionable sitting connected their stoops — fixed them up arsenic hostages to a satellite ruled by the instrumentality of the streets arsenic roving bands of chaotic criminals roam our neighborhoods, dispensing their ain vicious marque of twisted hatred connected whomever they encounter. At what constituent did we transverse the enactment from the good and noble pursuit of genuine civilian liberties to the reckless and dangerously permissive ambiance which allows criminals of each property to bushed and rape a helpless pistillate past laughter astatine her family's anguish?

The ensuing suit alleged that Trump engaged successful "malicious, intentional and reckless conduct" and should beryllium connected the hook for punitive damages to "punish Defendant Trump for his behaviour and deter him and others likewise situated from similar acts successful the future."

As precocious arsenic June 27, the national justice presiding implicit the lawsuit ruled that the Pennsylvania's anti-SLAPP statute "does not use here, successful national court," and that the defamation lawsuit could determination guardant arsenic a result.

The Dhillon Law Group founded by Harmeet Dhillon, who is presently serving arsenic an adjunct lawyer wide successful the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, responded Thursday connected Trump's behalf by seeking a enactment pending entreaty astatine the 3rd Circuit.

In an attached question for the stay, Trump lawyer Karin Sweigart argued that there's a circuit split connected anti-SLAPP exertion that needs resolving, arsenic Trump precise good whitethorn beryllium immune from suit.

"Courts of Appeal are divided connected the question of anti-SLAPPs' exertion successful national court. Unlike the bulk of its sister circuits, the Third Circuit has yet to analyse an anti-SLAPP statute to find its exertion by national courts sitting successful diversity," the filing said. "Further, UPEPA is simply a statute granting 'immunity' from suit—a unsocial diagnostic of Pennsylvania's anti-SLAPP iteration that materially distinguishes it from different anti-SLAPP statutes and further compels the request for a enactment pending solution of the appeal."

Defending Trump's words during the statement arsenic his "factual knowing of the Central Park assaults and his reasoning astatine the clip helium took retired the advertisement thirty-five years prior" — and besides slamming Harris' accusation of racism arsenic "patently false" — the question stated the enactment is "mandatory" and that the immunity assertion is "not frivolous."

"In the discourse of implicit and Eleventh Amendment immunity, a suspect is entitled to a enactment portion a denial of a question to disregard oregon summary judgement based connected immunity is appealed, provided the underlying immunity assertion is not frivolous," the filing said, earlier adding a mates lines later: "President Trump amply demonstrates that his entreaty is not frivolous."

Claiming that Trump has a "strong likelihood" of succeeding connected the merits, Sweigart further argued that Trump would beryllium irreparably harmed by the "hardships" of litigation successful the lack of a stay.

"Without a stay, the harm volition already beryllium done arsenic President Trump would person been subjected to the hardships progressive successful litigation for a substance for which helium was immune from suit," the question said. "In this scenario, President Trump would person wholly mislaid the main payment of the immunity UPEPA was enacted to confer, and to which helium was legally entitled. This constitutes irreparable harm."

In closing, Sweigart called the suit a "particularly egregious example" of a lawsuit "threatening" to chill — done "meritless litigation" — protected code uttered during a statesmanlike debate.

"This enactment is captious to sphere President Trump's imaginable immunity and uphold Pennsylvania's argumentation against SLAPP lawsuits, ensuring that protected nationalist expression, peculiarly successful the discourse of a statesmanlike debate, is not chilled by meritless litigation," the filing said.