(Reuters) -The chief executive officer of the New York Times, Meredith Kopit Levien, said the company would "not be cowed" by U.S. President Donald Trump’s $15-billion lawsuit against the newspaper,
NYT CEO Declares Defiance Against Trump's Legal Attacks on Press
Trump's Legal Actions Against Media
(Reuters) -The chief executive officer of the New York Times, Meredith Kopit Levien, said the company would "not be cowed" by U.S. President Donald Trump’s $15-billion lawsuit against the newspaper, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
Details of the Lawsuit
The suit is the latest in Trump's flurry of legal attacks on media during his second term, including a $10-billion defamation case against the Wall Street Journal in July.
NYT's Response and Stance
The lawsuit was legally baseless, Levien told a Financial Times conference in remarks the paper called her first public utterance on the matter.
"The lawsuit has no merit. It lacks any legitimate legal claims. I believe its purpose is to stifle independent journalism, to deter the kind of fact-based reporting that the Times and other institutions are known for."
She added, "There is an anti-press playbook at this point . . . The New York Times will not be cowed by this."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Monday's suit, Trump accused the paper of maliciously publishing articles and a book filled with "repugnant distortions and fabrications about President Trump".
In response to a Reuters request for comment on the filing, the paper said on Tuesday the lawsuit had no legitimate legal claims and was a bid to stifle and discourage independent reporting.
(Reporting by Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
