Trump files $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times

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NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and four of its journalists on Monday, according to court documents.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Florida names several articles and one book written by two of the publication’s journalists and published in the lead up to the 2024 election, saying they are “part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump.”

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“Defendants published such statements negligently, with knowledge of the falsity of the statements, and/or with reckless disregard of their truth or falsity,” the lawsuit says.

The New York Times did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment early Tuesday.

In a Truth Social post announcing the lawsuit, Trump accused The New York Times of lying about him and defaming him, saying it has become “a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party.”

Trump has gone after other media outlets, including filing a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch in July after the newspaper published a story reporting on his ties to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein.

James B. Speta: What Congress can and should do about the Fed’s independence

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For many decades, politicians of both parties and almost all economists have recognized the independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve as a cornerstone of the American economy — and indeed the world economy. The Fed’s independence itself fuels the U.S.’s prominence in the world economy and supports international and domestic investment. Recent reports, while rarely naming names, assure us that both Democratic and Republican members of Congress continue to believe all of this.

What can Congress do, though, if President Donald Trump wins his battle to remove members of the Fed’s Board of Governors? Let us imagine the worst (but likely) future and assume that the Supreme Court would back the president, either by holding that statutory protections limiting removals by requiring “cause” are unconstitutional, or by holding that anything the president says is cause is enough. (To be clear, I think the court would be wrong to say either of these, but I think it quite possible it will do so.) If this were to happen, Congress would be hard-pressed to write a new statute that creates pre-termination hearings or otherwise seeks to limit the power of the president that would satisfy the court’s aggressive support for presidential removals.

Congress, however, should not wait. Congress should immediately act to preserve the Fed’s independence. Even waiting for this to play out in the courts will be damaging and uncertain.

How can Congress respond? The first and most obvious move is that a majority of senators should immediately announce that they will not confirm any new nominees for the Fed until the terms of the existing member expires (barring death or resignation). Of course, the Senate can play even harder ball by refusing to act on any nominees or pausing action on any legislation. Perhaps in a retaliatory response, the president would fire even more of the Fed’s governors. (Though it is hard to believe the president would wholly disable the Fed, as his stated goal is for it to lower rates, after all.) If a firing spree does ensue, Congress will simply have to fight back. But it need not come to that — if Congress shows sufficient resolve on confirmations.

At the same time, and with a view toward avoiding future crises, the Senate should quickly form an expert committee of economists and others to recommend new governors, and a bipartisan majority of senators must commit that it will only confirm nominees from its list. Of course, the senators need to actually respect standards of economic expertise and integrity, but so far this has largely worked out in the history of the Fed — with both presidents and senators doing so. At a time in which the president does not care about expertise (or economics, really), the Senate must build its own real capacity to evaluate candidates. And it can take the lead. The Senate does not have the power to nominate, but it can make clear who it will and won’t confirm. These sorts of negotiations happen between the president and congressional leadership all the time.

Another option would see the Senate restore the filibuster to its confirmation process for the Fed’s nominees. This seems a further reach, however, and has the feeling of another political process; the first two steps commit the Senate to respecting expertise and independence.

The House can also play hardball, if a bipartisan majority of representatives supports Fed independence — as they do and should. The House’s tools are blunter, by stalling other legislation, especially appropriations. But the House as well as the Senate can hold oversight hearings and leadership has a bully pulpit to push back. The House can form its own expert committees, and more in-house economic expertise in both chambers is deeply needed.

In the Constitution’s vision, Congress — not the executive — should have the lead in setting national policy, economic and otherwise. The Senate’s authority to confirm or deny the president’s nominees is incontrovertible. It is well past time, and particularly important here, that Congress act to protect the Fed’s independence. It can do so with just a few relatively clear steps.

Congress must start doing its job, and this is the perfect — and a fundamentally important — place to begin.

James B. Speta holds the Elizabeth Froehling Horner professor of law and commerce at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. He wrote this column for the Chicago Tribune.

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Today in History: September 16, massacre in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps

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Today is Tuesday, Sept. 16, the 259th day of 2025. There are 106 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 16, 1982, the massacre of more than 1,300 Palestinian men, women and children at the hands of Israeli-allied Christian Phalange militiamen began in west Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

Also on this date:

In 1810, Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called on his parishioners to join him in a rebellion against Spanish rule, marking the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence.

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In 1893, the largest land run in U.S. history occurred as more than 100,000 white settlers rushed to claim over more than 6 million acres of land in what is now northern Oklahoma.

In 1908, General Motors was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C. Durant.

In 1940, Samuel T. Rayburn of Texas was first elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; he would hold the post for a record 17 years, spanning three separate terms.

In 1966, the Metropolitan Opera officially opened its new opera house at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts with the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s “Antony and Cleopatra.”

In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford signed a proclamation announcing a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft evaders.

In 2007, O.J. Simpson was arrested in the alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in Las Vegas. (Simpson was later convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery and sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison; he was released in 2017.)

In 2013, Aaron Alexis, a former U.S. Navy reservist, went on a shooting rampage inside the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 people before being fatally shot police.

In 2018, at least 17 people were confirmed dead from Hurricane Florence as catastrophic flooding spread across the Carolinas.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor George Chakiris is 93.
Actor Ed Begley Jr. is 76.
Author-historian-filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. is 75.
Country singer David Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 75.
Actor Mickey Rourke is 73.
Jazz musician Earl Klugh is 72.
TV personality Mark McEwen is 71.
Baseball Hall of Famer Robin Yount is 70.
Magician David Copperfield is 69.
Actor Jennifer Tilly is 67.
Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Orel Hershiser is 67.
Baseball Hall of Famer Tim Raines is 66.
Singer Richard Marx is 62.
Comedian Molly Shannon is 61.
Singer Marc Anthony is 57.
News anchor/talk show host Tamron Hall is 55.
Comedian-actor Amy Poehler is 54.
Singer-songwriter Musiq Soulchild is 48.
Rapper Flo Rida is 46.
Actor Alexis Bledel is 44.
Actor Madeline Zima is 40.
Actor Max Minghella is 40.
Rock singer-musician Nick Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 33.
Actor Chase Stokes is 33.
Golfer Bryson Dechambeau is 32.

Simeon Woods Richardson, Austin Martin shine as Twins beat Yankees

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The Twins won’t be going to the postseason this season, but over the next week and a half, they could have a big say in who does.

The Twins kicked off a series with the New York Yankees on Monday night at Target Field. They’ll follow that up with a four-game set against the Cleveland Guardians before heading to Texas to play the Rangers for three.

All three teams are fighting for a wild card berth. And on Monday, in their first chance to play spoiler, the Twins beat the Yankees 7-0 behind one of the best starts of Simeon Woods Richardson’s career.

In his six shutout innings, Woods Richardson recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts, including five straight from the third inning to fifth. The starter relied heavily on his splitter, getting eight of his swing and misses on the pitch.

Woods Richardson walked Aaron Judge in the sixth inning, and the Yankees star advanced to second on a wild pitch. But the pitcher finished off his outing by getting a pair of batters to strike out. It was just the second time this season he had completed six innings.

Woods Richardson, who allowed just two hits, outdueled Yankees starter Carlos Rodón, who completely stifled the Twins the last time the two teams played. The Twins scored their first run in the third inning when the Yankees were unable to turn a double play on an Austin Martin groundball.

Brooks Lee’s 15th home run of the season was the only other run the Twins would get off Rodón in his six innings. But after his departure, they broke through. After Lee drove in his second run with a double to right, Martin had the big hit of the game, sending his own double out to left to clear the bases.

Three runs scored on the play, and a fifth in the inning came home on Luke Keaschall’s single, which ricocheted off of reliever Camilo Doval’s glove and into the outfield.

Though the game was well in hand at that point, Martin had one more highlight for good measure.

With a pair of runners on and two outs in the eighth inning, Cody Bellinger hit a fly ball to left, which Martin tracked down, snagging the ball just before the upper half of his body fell over the low side wall. He got up and walked a few steps before holding up his red and black glove, ball in the middle of the pocket, for third base umpire D.J. Reyburn to inspect, setting off a roar in the crowd.