‘Question the court’s impartiality’: Trump seeks ‘immediate recusal’ of judge in Central Park Five defamation case

Inset, left to right: Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana appear on CBS Sunday Morning, May 12, 2019 (CBS Sunday Morning). Background: Donald Trump speaks at the annual Road to Majority conference in Washington, DC, June 22, 2024. (Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP)

Inset, left to right: Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana appear on CBS Sunday Morning, May 12, 2019 (CBS Sunday Morning). Background: Donald Trump speaks at the annual Road to Majority conference in Washington, DC, June 22, 2024. (Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP)

The Central Park Five urged a federal judge in Pennsylvania not to allow several nonparty media organizations and trade associations — as well as the ACLU — to weigh in on their defamation lawsuit against President-elect Donald Trump, saying the effort amounted to nothing more than “bullying” aimed at advancing their business interests.

The wrongly-accused quintet sued Trump for allegedly false statements he made during last year’s presidential debate with Kamala Harris in which he said the men “pled guilty” to the horrific attack and “ultimately killed a person.” Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, and Raymond Santana gave police coerced confessions, but never pleaded guilty, nor did the victim of the attack die.

On Wednesday, a coalition of organizations “with free speech interests” sought to file an amicus brief, meaning that while they are not party to the case, the group believes their information or arguments may help the court come to proper legal conclusions.

In this case, the amicus curiae did not take a position on the merits of the case for either side, but argued that the state’s anti-SLAPP statute, which provides immunity and fee-shifting for defendants who have to litigate frivolous lawsuits, should apply to the Central Park Five’s suit against Trump.

But attorneys representing the plaintiffs said the court should reject the request to file the “friend-of-the-court brief,” as the coalition was just using the opportunity to intimidate any prospective victims who might sue their organizations.

You May Also Like

‘Put his a— in the wind’: Mom who had ex-stepdad kill father of her child hours after victim was awarded split custody learns her fate

Inmate: Rachiel Moore (Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Florida…

‘The .01 percentile in the weight that they should be’: Mom headed to prison after 5 ‘frail, lethargic and unkempt’ kids found languishing in basement

Inset: Dashja L Turner (Racine County Jail). Background: Home where she neglected…

Senate Refuses to Confirm DeSantis’s Moms for Liberty Appointee to Ethics Commission

Former Brevard County School Board member Tina Descovich. (Facebook) The Senate is…

‘The signs of life were ignored’: Driver slammed car into horse stables at 120 mph, killing 2 boys playing with toy trucks

Inset: Hunter Jackson, left, and Odin Ratliff (Utah County Sheriff’s Office). Background:…