Former President Donald Trump sued Bob Woodward on Monday, alleging that the veteran journalist failed to obtain his consent to release audio recordings of interviews conducted during the past two years in office.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Florida, centers on the October release of “The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump.” It seeks nearly $50 million in damages and alleges efforts to “capitalize on the voice of President Trump.”
In the lawsuit, Trump says he agreed to be recorded only for the purposes of Woodward’s book “Rage,” which was published in 2020, and that Woodward broke his promise by later using the interviews for an audiobook.
“President Trump told Woodward on numerous occasions that Woodward would use the interviews, and Woodward alone, for the sole purpose of accurately quoting President Trump for the ‘written word,’ i.e., Rageand not for any other purpose, including the provision, marketing or sale of the interviews to the public, the press or the media, in any manner or form,” the court documents state.
“Woodward chose to exploit, usurp, and capitalize on the voice of President Trump by releasing the interview sound recordings of his interviews with President Trump in audiobook form,” the lawsuit states.
From December 2019 to July 2020, Woodward conducted a series of interviews with Trump at the White House, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, and over the phone. They drew national attention when excerpts showed Trump privately acknowledging the dangers of the covid pandemic while he publicly downplayed the threat from it.
Trump’s lawyers claim that the audio collected in the interviews was “protected material” and subject to limitations on use and distribution.
Defendants named in the lawsuit include Simon & Schuster and its parent company, Paramount Global, as well as Woodward.
Woodward and his publisher responded to Trump in a joint statement.
“Former President Trump’s lawsuit is without merit and we will aggressively defend against it. All of these interviews were recorded and recorded with the knowledge and agreement of President Trump. Furthermore, it is in the public interest to have this historical record in Trump’s own words. We are sure that the facts and the law are in our favor,” the statement said.
In a statement Monday night, Trump said the audiobook “was an open and blatant attempt to make me look as bad as possible.”
Trump, who launched a third run for the White House in November, sued Woodward following recent withdrawals from other lawsuits he filed in Florida, including one against New York Attorney General Letitia James, after a federal judge hit Trump and his lawyer with $1 million in penalties for pushing a different “frivolous” lawsuit.
lindsey pipia, Chloe Atkins Y daniel barnes contributed.
