Chris Lacivita, one of President Trump's former campaign managers, filed a honour and loss lawsuit against the Daily Beast on Monday over a report on the amount paid by the campaign.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia “denounces the daily beast of Lashivita, who personally profited from the campaign work and produced the false impression that he prioritized personal gains over the success of the campaign.
It focuses on an article published on October 15, 2024, with the headline “Trump in the Cash Crisis with Revealing the Campaign Chief's $22 million salary.” This article was written by freelance journalist Michael Ishikov. He was not appointed as a defendant in the case.
The article stated that Lacivita, manager of Trump's reelection campaign, 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.
According to the complaint, Mr. Rashivita's lawyer on November 5th said the federal election commission's public records were inconsistent with the statement in the article, demanding revisions and withdrawals.
Daily Beast revised the article by revealing that it had been changed from $22 million to $19.2 million a few days after demand, and that the funds were sent to Lacivita's consulting firm rather than him. The heading has been changed and editor's notes have been added to the article.
After Lacivita's lawyers demanded further withdrawal in January, Daily Beast removed a podcast episode entitled “How did Trump's campaign manager make $22 million?” From that platform.
Lacivita's lawyer Mark Geragos said the Daily Beast should have “tracked and tracked money before publishing to get clicks and drive the political agenda.”
The Daily Beast said in a statement that the outlet had been standing by a report on Mr. Rashivita.
“His lawsuit is worthless, it is a transparent attempt to threaten the beast and silence independent reporting,” the statement said. “The beast is looking forward to defending itself violently, chasing money and checking where every penny has flown at LLC in Lashivita.”
The lawsuit is a recent case of defamation and other legal action filed by Trump and his allies against news outlets and journalists who claim the report is misleading or inaccurate.
Trump, for example, has filed an unresolved lawsuit against CBS News, Des Moines Register, CNN, and groups that award the Pulitzer Awards. Trump's advisors have also repeatedly threatened and filed such lawsuits. Recently on Friday, Elon Musk warned that he was “inbound” after a former House member criticized him on television.
Legal measures and threats are consistent with efforts by the Trump administration to constrain mainstream press. The White House has restricted access to the Associated Press' President. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating broadcasters. And allies like Trump and Musk opposed news outlets and individual journalists, including falsely claiming that they were government propaganda uniforms.
To win a honour-loss lawsuit, public figures like Trump and Lashivita must prove that the accused knew what he was writing was false or acted recklessly ignoring its accuracy. The hiver was set in a series of Supreme Court precedents that Trump and his allies are pushing for overturning.
