The Lincoln Project said it is disregarding the threat of a defamation lawsuit from attorneys for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
In a letter issued Friday, the anti-Trump group defended advertisements in Manhattan, New York, that depict Trump gleefully motioning toward a number of U.S. citizens who have died from coronavirus and Kushner smiling aside an anonymous quote attributed to him that reads, “[New Yorkers] are going to suffer and that’s their problem.” The Lincoln Project said the advertisements are both accurate and protected speech since both are public officials.
“You boldly predict that the result of your lawsuit ‘will doubtless be enormous compensatory and punitive damages.’ Please peddle your scare tactics elsewhere. The Lincoln Project will not be intimidated by such empty bluster,” Matthew Sanderson, counsel to the anti-Trump group, wrote in a letter. “Your clients are no longer mere Upper East Side socialites, able to sue at the slightest offense to their personal sensitivities. Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump are public officials.”
“They have been public officials since President Trump, in a gross act of nepotism, awarded Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump senior White House positions in 2017. The placement of Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump in these high-level White House offices has been disastrous for Americans everywhere, but it is now devastating to the prospects of your would-be lawsuit,” the letter continues.
The Lincoln Project’s legal response to the frivolous threat of a lawsuit from Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s lawyer.
This will not be the last they hear from us. pic.twitter.com/GNnFsnsCer
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 24, 2020
Marc Kasowitz, an attorney for Kushner and Trump, wrote last week to the Lincoln Project, which is comprised of anti-Trump Republicans such as Rick Wilson and Steve Schmidt, threatening a lawsuit if the advertisements were not “immediately removed.”
“Mr. Kushner never made any such statement, Ms. Trump never made any such gesture, and the Lincoln Project’s representations that they did are outrageous and shameful libel,” the letter reads. “If these billboard ads are not immediately removed, we will sue you for what will doubtless be enormous compensatory and punitive damages.”
