Judge denies Trump's request to advance suit against Bob Woodward

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

12/17/24 5:58 PM ET


President-elect Trump’s attorney unsuccessfully asked a federal judge to move forward with his lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward over published audio tapes of interviews the famed Watergate reporter conducted with Trump for a 2020 book.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe, an appointee of former President George W. Bush who is overseeing the case, denied the request to expedite it around five hours after the request was filed.

“The Court is at work on the outstanding motion,” Gardephe wrote. “To the extent Plaintiff seeks to embark on discovery before the motion to dismiss is resolved, that application is denied.”

The case has stalled for months as the judge weighs the defendants’ bid to dismiss the lawsuit, but the sudden activity comes as Trump assumes a more emboldened posture in scrutinizing media outlets in the wake of his November presidential victory.

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5044528-trump-lawsuit-bob-woodward/

[BoRaGard]

1. Loser (R)

The republicon felon will whine about this all day.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Perhaps the "Media" will grow a spine when Woodward prevails.

[Ray Bruns]

5. Yea right.

[Scrivener7]

3. EVERYONE should be doing this. Let him bring the spurious suits. It will keep him busy and

maybe prevent him from trying to "govern." But for God's sake, don't settle with him. That's just paying him for being the vile thing he is.

[Irish_Dem]

4. I was thinking the same thing, it is easy to get Trump sidetracked.

Filing suits against his enemies may keep him somewhat distracted.

[Scrivener7]

7. Irish_Dem, I just don't understand our side on this. His psychology is so EASY! We

could so easily be using his man-baby ego and his love of corruption against him. We could so easily be leading him around by the nose just by using his psychology against him. As you say, what could be easier than sidetracking this moron?

But we don't!!

[Irish_Dem]

8. Yes and no.

He has a complicated clinical picture. Both a narcissist and sociopath.
And drug abuser with dementia.

Plus he has quite a few minders who may be running the show.

We don't even know if Trump has much power at this point.
So who are we targeting exactly.

But perhaps the strategy is already in action.
Keep Trump busy suing Liz Cheney, Bob Woodward, newspapers, etc.

[Escurumbele]

10. He is not the one making the decisions, it is the people behind him, he is just a "monkey who can use a pen".

Remember Grover Norquist's advise to republicans to get a "monkey who can use a pen"? He said that, and pointed out that the monkey did not have to come up with any ideas, any type of legislation, all he had to do was to know how to hold and use a pen, and there we have it, trump is the monkey.

Focusing so much on trump is dangerous, the people behind him are the "thinkers", its like when Paul Ryan was around, he was the "thinker", not trump, trump just signed whatever Ryan presented to him, and then like a good monkey he showed the signed document for everyone to see, but could he talk anything about it? No, of course not, he didn't know what he had signed.

[Irish_Dem]

12. I tend to agree with you.

The man we saw on the campaign trail could barely read from a teleprompter, was incoherent, and looked
drugged most of the time.

Yes we can assume his minders are calling the shots. Unfortunately some of them are criminals, alcoholics and drug addicts themselves. It might be possible to distract some of them as well.

[3Hotdogs]

6. The problem is, defending against Trump's bullshit lawsuits, costs $$$.

He will not stop until he gets hit with countersuits and fines for frivolous lawsuits.

[moonscape]

13. And Musk has deep pockets.

[Bo Zarts]

9. Vexatious Litigation

"Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought solely to harass or subdue an adversary. It may take the form of a primary frivolous lawsuit or may be the repetitive, burdensome, and unwarranted filing of meritless motions in a matter which is otherwise a meritorious cause of action. Filing vexatious litigation is considered an abuse of the judicial process and may result in sanctions against the offender.

A single action, even a frivolous one, is usually not enough to raise a litigant to the level of being declared vexatious. Rather, a pattern of frivolous legal actions is typically required to rise to the level of vexatious. Repeated and severe instances by a single lawyer or firm can result in eventual disbarment.

Some jurisdictions have a list of vexatious litigants: people who have repeatedly abused the legal system." (snip)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vexatious_litigation#:~:text=Some%20jurisdictions%20have%20a%20list,therefore%2C%20represent%20themselves%20in%20court.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. Adult Day Care has never been so visible

One would think HIPAA laws would keep the endless drama private.

[iluvtennis]

14. Awesome news! n/t

[Wonder Why]

15. Hey, Donnie! Others are learning your tricks about delaying cases. Life is tough!

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

16. If, as president, he cannot be sued ...

I think he should be prohibited from bringing personal suits against anyone while he is in office. I don't know how this would be done.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. He can be sued while President

but apparently not "criminally". Civilly is a whole other issue. Civil example - see Paula Jones and Bill Clinton.

[Passages]

18. An emboldened demagogue.