A senior political adviser to President Trump slapped the Daily Beast with a defamation lawsuit over its reporting on how much he was paid by the campaign.
Chris LaCivita, a manager of Trump’s re-election campaign, claims the Barry Diller-owned tabloid news site created “the false impression” that he was “personally profiting excessively from his work on the campaign and that he was prioritizing personal gain over the campaign’s success,” according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday.
The lawsuit stems from the Daily Beast’s article published on October 15, 2024, with the headline: “Trump In Cash Crisis-As Campaign Chief’s $22m Pay Revealed.”
Penned by freelance journalist Michael Isikoff, who was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, the article claims LaCivita had negotiated a series of contracts and was paid millions of dollars over two years from the campaign.
The allegations were repeated in several follow-up articles and discussed on a Daily Beast podcast hosted by editor in chief Joanna Coles.
A few weeks after publication, LaCivita’s lawyers demanded a correction and a retraction, saying public records from the Federal Election Commission conflicted with statements in the article.
The Daily Beast corrected the article a few days after the Nov. 5 demand by changing the amount to $19.2 million from $22 million and clarified that the funds went to LaCivita’s consulting firm rather than to him personally.
The monetary figure was updated and reflected in the headline and the article was accompanied by an editor’s note.
The Daily Beast also scrubbed its podcast episode, dubbed “How Has Trump’s Campaign Manager Made $22 MILLION?,” from its platform after LaCivita’s lawyers demanded more retractions in January.
The Daily Beast “should have investigated and followed the money before publishing lies in order to get clicks and push their political agenda,” said LaCivita’s lawyer Mark Geragos, who has defended high-profile figures like Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder and Chris Brown.
LaCivita isn’t seeking a specific amount in damages but is instead allowing the amount to be determined at trial. According to Axios, the case is being funded by the Republican National Committee.
“The Daily Beast stands by its reporting on Chris LaCivita. His lawsuit is meritless and a transparent attempt to intimidate the Beast and silence the independent press,” a rep for the media company shot back.
“The Beast will defend itself vigorously and looks forward to following the money to confirm where every penny flowed in LaCivita’s LLC.”
The lawsuit comes at a difficult time for the Daily Beast, which has undergone a massive overhaul under Coles, who has been panned by current and former employees for her bulldozing management style.
Those include massive layoffs and a recent gutting of the outlet’s DC bureau, a former Daily Beast employee told The Post.
“Joanna Coles has had quite a run at the Daily Beast when you really think about it; she’s been sued over false reporting, made enemies with her entire staff, and successfully destroyed the Washington, DC, news bureau,” the person said.
The lawsuit is the latest example of defamation and other legal squabbles that Trump and his allies have filed against media outlets whose coverage, they claim, was misleading or inaccurate.
Trump has outstanding lawsuits against CBS News, the Des Moines Register and CNN. Although defamation cases are traditionally hard to prove, ABC settled its defamation case with Trump in December for $16 million.
