Literary group sues Trump on free speech

NEW YORK — In the three years that Donald Trump rocketed from candidate to president, the PEN American Center has criticized him as a bully, an autocrat, a user of hate speech and an enemy of free expression. It has published studies, organized petitions and established a Press Freedom Incentive Fund.

Now the literary and human rights organization, which includes thousands of authors and journalists, is taking a more direct step: PEN is suing the president.

In a suit filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, the center, also known as PEN America, alleges that “official acts” by Trump have “violated the First Amendment and his oath to uphold the Constitution.” PEN cites such examples as reports that Trump was meddling in the proposed merger of AT&T and CNN, a frequent target of Trump’s anger (The Justice Department has sought to block the merger).

The suit notes Trump’s comments on Washington Post owner and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. Trump, unhappy with the Post’s coverage, has threatened antitrust action against Amazon and suggested raising its shipping costs. According to the Post, he has pressured U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan to double the rates. (Last week, the United States Postal Service proposed some hikes for 2019, among them increases which would affect Amazon. Shipping costs have been raised several times over the past decade).

“President Trump has First Amendment rights and is free to criticize the press vehemently, but he is not free to use the power and authority of the United States government to punish and stifle it,” the complaint reads.

An email sent to a White House spokeswoman shortly before the suit was filed was not immediately returned.

In an interview this week with The Associated Press, PEN chief executive officer Suzanne Nossel said that Trump had moved beyond harsh (and legally protected) rhetoric such as “fake news” and “enemy of the people.”

“There is concern that the president is actually extracting reprisals on the media for coverage he considers unfavorable,” she said.

PEN is asking that Trump be enjoined from “directing or ordering any officer, employee, agency, or other agent or instrumentality of the United States government to take any action against any person or entity with intent to retaliate against, intimidate, or otherwise constrain speech critical of him or his Administration.”

The organization seeks no money beyond “costs, including attorneys’ fees,” and other “relief as the Court deems just and proper.”

Trump has been sued thousands of times over the past few decades, and shortly before taking office agreed to pay $25 million in a settlement over fraud allegations against the now-defunct Trump University. He also has been sued as president, including on First Amendment grounds.

Last month, a federal court in Cincinnati ruled that protesters at a Trump rally in March 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky, could not sue him for inciting violence, finding nothing incriminating in his remarks.