The Daily Beast is being sued by Chris LaCivita over reports alleging that he and his company received millions of dollars for his work as co-manager of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
The Daily Beast reported that LaCivita and his company were paid $22 million over two years leading up to the election, a figure that was reduced in later reporting to $19.2 million.
The Trump operative claims in court filings that “the vast majority” of these funds were used for “campaign advertising expenses.”
The lawsuit was filed by LaCivita and his company, Advancing Strategies LLC, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where he is a resident.
LaCivita is claiming two counts of defamation and one of conspiracy to injure another in trade, business, or profession. He is seeking a jury trial and demanding compensatory and punitive damages.
Chris LaCivita, center, listens as former President Donald Trump speaks with reporters on Trump Force One. / The Washington Post / The Washington Post via Getty Images
He says “defamatory reporting created the false impression” that he was “excessively” cashing in on his work for Trump and “prioritizing personal gain over the campaign’s success.”
In the filing, LaCivita claims the stories were based on “unreliable information provided by Corey Lewandowski and others in a blatant act of revenge against Mr. LaCivita and the Republican National Committee.”
Lewandowski, a political consultant, was a campaign manager during Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016.
LaCivita says the implication that his company was making millions “unbeknownst to President Trump and the campaign” imputed a lack of integrity and harmed his reputation.
He says the Daily Beast articles subjected him to “hatred, ridicule or distrust.”
The lawsuit details several articles published in the weeks before the Nov. 5, 2024, presidential election and an interview included in an episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, co-hosted by the Beast’s chief content officer, Joanna Coles, and Samantha Bee.
Chris LaCivita, left, and Susie Wiles, right. / The Washington Post / The Washington Post via Getty Images
LaCivita alleges that award-winning freelance journalist Michael Isikoff first made the allegations in an Oct. 15, 2024, article published by the Daily Beast under the headline “Trump in Cash Crisis As Campaign Chief’s $22m Pay Revealed.”
That was followed by four further articles over the ensuing days repeating the original article’s allegation that LaCivita “raked in” $22 million “and counting” from his work with the Trump campaign and PACs, the suit alleges.
LaCivita claims in the filing that allegations about the payments were “categorically false and belied by the publicly available campaign finance records themselves.”
“These records clearly show that the $22 million figure is the gross spend (the overwhelming majority of which was for ad buys), not the money which Mr. LaCivita personally received,” the lawsuit adds.
“It is estimated that it would cost millions of dollars to repair Mr. LaCivita’s reputation as a result of the defamatory articles published about him which had mass circulation and international reach,” the suit alleges.
LaCivita claims the allegations were repeated by Isikoff when he appeared as a guest on an Oct. 23, 2024, episode of The Daily Beast Podcast.
He says in the court papers that the Daily Beast modified its reporting on Nov. 8, 2024, “after further review of FEC records” to claim LaCivita’s company “received $19.2 million in compensation, rather than the $22 million figure originally reported.”
In the lawsuit, LaCivita claims the $19.2 million figure was also false. The Daily Beast stood by its reporting.
A spokesperson said the Daily Beast would defend itself against the lawsuit.
“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.
The Beast will defend itself vigorously and looks forward to following the money to confirm where every penny flowed in LaCivita’s LLC,” the statement said.
It’s not the first time the president or someone in his orbit has sued a media company—last year Trump filed a $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over an interview on “60 Minutes” with his then-Democratic rival Kamala Harris, which he claimed was edited in a way that constituted “voter interference.” That lawsuit remains ongoing.
ABC News also agreed last year to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library as part of a defamation settlement. The case was brought when anchor George Stephanopoulos inaccurately asserted on air that Trump was found civilly liable for raping the writer E. Jean Carroll—he was only found liable for sexual abuse and defaming Carroll.
