General Question

LostInParadise's avatar

Could Biden sue Trump for libel?

Asked by LostInParadise (31914points) September 28th, 2019

It seems like such an obvious thing to do that there must be a good reason for why it should not or cannot be done. Politicians are allowed to make hyperbolic statements about things like corruption, but Trump is making a specific charge with regards to the Ukraine without any evidence. As president, Trump can’t be tried on criminal charges, but shouldn’t it be possible to bring up charges for tort court?

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10 Answers

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Libel is for written slander. Slander is for spoken damages. I don’t know if presidential speech is protected like in Canada. Make Trump’s speech is protected while he is doing official duties.
In the states you can sue anyone for anything. Winning the suit isn’t guaranteed.

elbanditoroso's avatar

Sure, but why? That would call attention to Biden. Trump is doing a wonderful job of screwing himself. Let Trump defeat himself.

Yellowdog's avatar

Well, first of all, it was the Ukrainian president who brought up Joe Biden specifically. Trump only brought up Crowdstrike,

Secondly. there is plenty of evidence, documentaion, even tapes, of what Joe Biden did, So it would not be possible to make a charge of libel or slander.

What about the news is a greater question. If a news station shows Joe Biden bragging to the state department about how he got the Ukrainian investigator fired who was investigating his son, by telling them they would not get the billion dollars unless the investigator was fired, could Biden sue the news network for libel or slander by showing the clip or sound-bite?

LostInParadise's avatar

I did a quick Web search on this and, as @RedDeerGuy1 said, a distinction is made between official and unofficial activity by the President. A president can only be sued for unofficial activity. Are writing tweets or hurling insults directed at Biden part of official duty? What about campaigning to be re-elected? None of that seems very official.

stanleybmanly's avatar

The bandit gets it right. The more Trump talks, the greater the certainty that he’ll talk himself into prison.

kritiper's avatar

If it could be proven that he was hurt financially.

seawulf575's avatar

I guess if you believe Biden could sue Trump for slander or libel, then you would have to say that Trump could also sue Hillary, the DNC, Comey, CNN, MSNBC, and probably many, many others for all the lies about the Russian Collusion that were put out. They were far more blatant than anything Trump did. Besides, Biden bragged about his corrupt actions.

stanleybmanly's avatar

The smoke screen erected to slander Biden a ALREADY evaporated. Yell all you want about the transgressions of Biden, the Clintons, Obama—no one gives a damn. The bottom line is that the RIGHT crook is on his way to the gallows.

Darth_Algar's avatar

He could. I doubt he’d get very far, but he could. You can sue anybody for anything if you can find a lawyer willing to take the case.

gorillapaws's avatar

I don’t think Biden wants to invite scrutiny into his son getting $50k per month from a Ukrainian energy company. Trump definitely crossed a line, but that doesn’t mean Biden isn’t dirty too.

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