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Reporters could bolster First Amendment with libel cases against Trump, libel defense lawyer says

First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams urged other media lawyers on Wednesday to consider going on the offensive to shore up the First Amendment, possibly by bringing libel cases against Donald Trump.

The Hollywood Reporter reported on Abrams’ remarks and followed up with an interview. Abrams told the publication that Trump has denounced the press and banned journalists from covering him. “And so, press lawyers ought to bear in mind that if things get rough, if the relationship is one of constant denigration and threats, it may be time for journalists to think about using libel laws in a way that is constitutional,” Abrams said.

Journalists wouldn’t have a right to sue if Trump’s remarks are “merely rhetorical or hyperbolic in the sense of ‘reporters are no good,’ ” Abrams said. “But if he seems to mean it, if he says a reporter is routinely publishing false material, then maybe we’re moving down the road where a reporter responds by not only saying, ‘It is not so,’ but by going to court.”

Such a case could provide an important lesson for Trump, Abrams said, about the wisdom of limits on libel suits.