Donald Trump Sues Journalist Bob Woodward for Releasing Interviews in Audiobook
Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward for allegedly not getting his consent to release audio recordings of their interviews and publishing them in an audiobook. .
The copyright violations lawsuit focuses on "The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump." It was filed in the Northern District of Florida on Monday and sought around $50 million in damages.
The lawsuit also alleged Woodward of capitalizing upon the former president's voice. Woodward and the publisher of the audiobook, Simon & Schuster, noted that Trump's case "is without merit," reported CNN.
They added that all these interviews were on the record and recorded with Trump's "knowledge and agreement."
The former president argued that he only allowed Woodward to use the interviews for "Rage," the author's second book on the former president, which was published in September 2020.
However, the former president said Woodward broke his promise and released the audio from their interviews without his consent last October.
The lawsuit claimed that Trump told the veteran journalists several times that the interviews would only be used to "accurately quote President Trump" for "Rage."
Simon & Schuster was included in the lawsuit and parent company Paramount.
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What Does Bob Woodward's Donald Trump Audiobook Contain?
In a statement, Trump said Bob Woodward's audiobook "was an open and blatant attempt" to make him "look as bad as possible," NBC News reported.
According to The Guardian review, the Trump Tapes audiobook contained the former president pouring out "praise for Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin." It was reported that Trump has complimented them for their "smarts, cunning, and ruthlessness."
Aside from his praise for the mentioned world leaders, Trump also touted the United States' nuclear arsenal, saying that he has "built a weapon system" that has never been created in the U.S. before.
The former president added that the U.S. has "stuff" that the Russian leader and Chinese president "never heard about before."
CNN asked Woodward about the former president's claim that he never asked permission to release the tapes. He then said they were done voluntarily, and "it was all on the record."
Donald Trump has earned a reputation for filing lawsuits against media outlets, including CNN. Currently, he faces a civil fraud lawsuit filed against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
What Was Bob Woodward Famous For?
Bob Woodward was known for his Washington Post investigative reporting in 1973 about the Watergate scandal, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize.
The Watergate scandal was known to be a series of interlocking political controversies of the late president Richard Nixon's administration, which included a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex in 1972.
It also involved the coverup done by people who worked for or with the White House and by Nixon himself. Likely facing impeachment for his role in covering up the scandal, Nixon resigned in 1974.
He became the only U.S. president to resign. Four of the five burglars involved in the break-in had been formerly actively in Central Intelligence Agency activities against Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Last January, Woodward with Carl Bernstein commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
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