# Trump Threatens To Sue Club For Growth For Libel **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 24, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422 "2015-09-24T19:36:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/1 "2015-09-24T19:36:42Z")
[Round 2: FIGHT!](http://truthinmedia.com/trump-lawsuit-conservative-group-club-for-growth/) > [@](#): > > On Tuesday, the campaign of billionaire reality TV star Donald Trump sent a letter to the media detailing a multi-million dollar legal threat against Club For Growth, one of Washington’s most conservative political groups, for libel. > > [snip] > > Insisting he only supported a one-time tax increase on the super wealthy 15 years ago and does not hold that belief anymore, Trump repudiated the claims, and says they aren’t true. > > “This is the very definition of libel,” said Trump. > > However, less than one month ago, Trump suggested raising taxes. > > [snip] > > In response to Trump’s threatened lawsuit, Club for Growth issued a press release titled “Club for Growth Action Responds to Trump’s Whining.” > > [snip] > > Trump’s threat has little chance of success for two reasons. First, because he went on record weeks ago and suggested raising taxes. Second, because libel cases are incredibly hard to win in the world of American politics. In fact, political entities (candidates or groups) have a legal right to lie in political ads. Therefore, even if Trump hadn’t suggested raising taxes only weeks ago, he’d still likely lose his case in court. Even if he won, Supreme Court precedent would make it virtually impossible for Trump to collect any damages. Also, of course, taking time out in your campaign to pursue a lawsuit means you’ve lost. There simply isn’t enough time to do both, even if you have an unlimited war chest and can actually fund both endeavors. So this is a slapfight of Carrollean proportions, with Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumbass trying to get as much media attention as they can to control the GOP. This is what the Republican Party has come to: A candidate who thinks blatantly bogus lawsuit threats are a valid way to garner media attention is the front-runner. Nobody else is as appealing to GOP potential voters as he is right now. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/2 "2015-09-24T19:55:56Z")
My analogy on another thread still holds: The Republican Party are now like starving rats in a bucket, all trying to kill each other. I wonder if mainstream Republicans are now regretting the deal they made years ago with the crazies to try for power… ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/3 "2015-09-24T19:58:46Z")
Do we really need a new thread for every damn thing that comes out Trump’s mouth? There is currently 27 frigging threads in this forum that contain Trump in the title and this one is the second or third specifically about his feud with the Club for Growth. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/4 "2015-09-24T20:43:43Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Do we really need a new thread for every damn thing that comes out Trump’s mouth? There is currently 27 frigging threads in this forum that contain Trump in the title and this one is the second or third specifically about his feud with the Club for Growth. This. Which I mentioned in ATMB much earlier but apparently to no avail. The threads still keep breeding like rabbits. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > My analogy on another thread still holds … … which of course leads to the phenomenon that no one can remember where either s/he or anyone else made any particular comment about Trump among the vast exploding plethora of threads, seemingly one on everything that Trump has ever done or every brain fart that Trump ever has. ETA: Notice how the verbally conservationist Canadians have managed to confine **the entire election discussion** to a single thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/5 "2015-09-24T21:06:35Z")
I’m shocked and disappointed in Trump. Not for the suit, which is typical of his paper thin skinnedness, but because he didn’t call Club for Growth ‘losers’. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/6 "2015-09-24T21:14:19Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I’m shocked and disappointed in Trump. Not for the suit, which is typical of his paper thin skinnedness, but because he didn’t call Club for Growth ‘losers’. _Weak_ losers, remember to be proper. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/7 "2015-09-25T08:50:29Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Do we really need a new thread for every damn thing that comes out Trump’s mouth? There is currently 27 frigging threads in this forum that contain Trump in the title and this one is the second or third specifically about his feud with the Club for Growth. Yes. Yes we do. This is an excellent thread: top quality. Superb. The OP is a great guy. > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I’m shocked and disappointed in Trump. Not for the suit, which is typical of his paper thin skinnedness, but because he didn’t call Club for Growth ‘losers’. I’ll quote the cease and desist letter, which should cheer you up. I assume it’s public domain: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/22/donald-trumps-cease-and-desist-letter-annotated/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/22/donald-trumps-cease-and-desist-letter-annotated/) [INDENT]For example, while your Attack Ad blatantly misrepresents to the public that Mr. Trump “supports higher taxes”, nothing could be further from the truth… Not surprisingly, a closer look at your Attack Ad reveals that your supposed “source” for this statement is – according to the small print on your website – nothing more than a single article published in the Advocate on February 15, 2000 which quoted Mr. Trump as supposedly saying he would “impose a one-time net worth tax of 14.25% on the superwealthy … to pay off the national debt.” That’s it. While a reputable organization would have at least had the decency to disclose its source — and the fact that the source article is more than 15 years old – your pitiful little group conveniently chose to leave that information out in a deliberate attempt to mislead the public into believing that it is reflective of Mr. Trump’s current position — when, unquestionably, it is not. … Sadly, the deplorable actions of your organization are not the least bit surprising. As I am sure you recall, it was only a few short months ago that you very openly and shamelessly attempted to extort Mr. Trump to the tune of $1 million in exchange for your political support. Indeed, you were not even the least bit discreet about your motives in that, after meeting with Mr. Trump, you immediately followed up with a June 2, 2015 letter requesting a “contribution of $1 million” in exchange for an endorsement by your organization’s political action committee. “This contribution,” you proclaimed, “would have a dramatically positive impact on the Club’s ability to identify future free-enterprise champions.” When Mr. Trump, however, presumably unlike many of the other candidates, refused to succumb to your extortionist demands, your only response was to oppose his inclusion in the August 6, 2015 Fox News Republican Presidential Debate, launch a series of misleading Attack Ads targeting Mr. Trump and, ultimately, endorse certain other candidates. Though your website states that donations to “Club for Growth … are NOT publicly disclosed”, one can only assume that the candidates you are endorsing paid handsomely for your support. American politics at its worst. If that is not a “shake-down”, I do not know what is. [/INDENT] Also: [INDENT] I am not surprised the dishonest, irrelevant and totally failing Club for Growth has resorted to attacking the definitive front runner, especially after I refused to contribute to their pathetic group… We will be releasing my current tax proposal, which is a major decrease in taxes, in the next week and will continue to expose the two faced hypocrisy of the Club for Growth and the problems groups like this perpetuate within a broken Washington, D.C.[/INDENT] [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/donald-trump-club-for-growth-cease-desist-letter-213936#ixzz3mjp4fepn](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/donald-trump-club-for-growth-cease-desist-letter-213936#ixzz3mjp4fepn) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/8 "2015-09-25T10:29:10Z")
Thank you, that does make me feel better, though it does seem like he’s accusing other candidates of directly buying support. Seems a bit libelous, no? I also must admit that every time I see this headline, I think it’s about the Hair Club for Men. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/9 "2015-09-25T15:55:36Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I also must admit that every time I see this headline, I think it’s about the Hair Club for Men. You stole my joke before I had a chance to post it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/10 "2015-09-25T16:05:41Z")
Any political candidate will have a very, very hard time winning a libel suit about any political statement. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/11 "2015-09-25T16:34:02Z")
Why would Trump ever need to sue anyone? All he needs to do is get in there and negotiate and he’s sure to win anything he wants. Because that’s what he’s done all his life, if you haven’t heard. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/12 "2015-09-25T20:41:11Z")
Trump isn’t taking time off of his campaign for this lawsuit. The lawsuit is part of his campaign. Anything to keep him in the public eye. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/13 "2015-09-25T21:58:43Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Do we really need a new thread for every damn thing that comes out Trump’s mouth? There is currently 27 frigging threads in this forum that contain Trump in the title and this one is the second or third specifically about his feud with the Club for Growth. I’ve seen people complain about the mondo-threads, too, and how posts get lost in the shuffle and it’s tiresome to have to read through 15 pages of posts to see if someone’s said what you’re going to say. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-threatens-to-sue-club-for-growth-for-libel/732422/14 "2015-09-26T00:11:22Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Any political candidate will have a very, very hard time winning a libel suit about any political statement. For those who don’t know, Trump has a habit of launching lawsuits that never seem to end up before a judge. He has no intention of winning this or even taking up substantial amounts of court time with it. He will just declare victory at the proper time.