Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s lawyer warned an anti-Trump group to take down two edited photos displayed on billboards in New York City or suffer the consequences in court.
In a letter sent to the Lincoln Project on Friday, Trump family lawyer Marc Kasowitz said the billboards, which appeared in Times Square on Thursday, amounted to “outrageous and shameful libel.”
The group edited a photo of Ivanka Trump holding up a can of Goya beans, replacing the consumer product with coronavirus death count figures.
For Kushner’s image, the Lincoln Project quoted him as saying that New Yorkers would “suffer” because of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s response to the disease and that it would be “their problem.” Kushner has denied the accuracy of the quote, which was relayed by an anonymous source who attended a meeting at the White House in March at which Kushner was present.
“Of course, Mr. Kushner never made any such statement, Ms. Trump never made any such gesture, and the Lincoln Project’s representations that they did are an outrageous and shameful libel,” Kasowitz wrote.
It’s a good morning in Times Square for Ivanka and Jared. pic.twitter.com/gbtiHq9NtK
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 22, 2020
“If these billboard ads are not immediately removed, we will sue you for what will doubtless be enormous compensatory and punitive damages,” the letter continued.
The Lincoln Project responded to threats of a lawsuit late Friday evening, saying that it intended to make “this civics lesson as painful as possible” for the couple.
“It is unsurprising that an administration that has never had any regard or understanding of our Constitution would try to trample on our First Amendment rights,” read a statement from the Lincoln Project.
