Donald Trump’s US Presidential Campaign has taken formal action against a political action committee known as the Lincoln Project. On Friday, the campaign sent a cease and desist letter to the group, which is comprised of former Republican voters vocally opposed to Trump. Central to the dispute is a television advertisement released by the Lincoln Project that alleges the Trump campaign was “unprepared” for President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 Presidential race. The advertisement features statements from senior Trump advisors Chris LaCivita, Susan Wiles, and Tony Fabrizio, accusing them of misusing campaign funds and concealing expenditures from Trump.
In the communication addressed to the ad’s broadcaster Effectv, Trump Campaign Attorney David Warrington denounces the advertisement as false and defamatory. Warrington claims:
The advertisement’s claim … is obviously false. News articles and public statements reflect that the Campaign has long prepared for President Biden’s exit from the race. This falsehood defamatorily slurs the Campaign’s leadership as incompetent, ill-suited to their jobs, and wasteful with donors’ money. It harms Mr. LaCivita, Ms. Wiles, and Mr. Fabrizio by degrading their professional reputations, and it harms the campaign by discouraging donors from contributing to it based on lies.
Warrington further cited the 1997 case Thomas v. Jacksonville Television, Inc., which establishes media liability for publishing defamatory content without reasonable care. In the cited case, a Florida state appellate court held that “a private individual may recover actual damages from a media defendant that published false and defamatory statements without reasonable care to determine their falsity” ([see here](///Users/kylejames/Downloads/699_So.2d_800.pdf)). Florida law stipulates that a media defendant cannot be held liable unless the plaintiff can prove the broadcaster “failed to exercise due care.”
The Trump campaign has faced ongoing challenges in securing legal representation for election-related litigation. A 2020 New York Times report disclosed that firms representing Trump often filed lawsuits deemed meritless by state and federal courts due to insufficient evidence.
In response to the cease and desist letter, the Lincoln Project released another video criticizing the defamation claims and asserted that Trump “will never take us to court.”