Trump Sues Bob Woodward For $49 Million In Dispute Over Audiobook Recordings
Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward for $49 million on Monday. The former president alleges Woodward included recordings in an audiobook to which Trump didn't consent.
Trump claims while he consented to Woodward he could record conversations for his 2020 book "Rage," the agreement didn't include the use for “The Trump Tapes,” a Simon & Schuster audiobook from last year.
The lawsuit also names Simon & Schuster Inc. and its parent company Paramount Global as defendants, along with Woodward.
“As he fully understands, writer Bob Woodward never got my permission to release tapes of my various interviews with him. Those tapes were allowed only for purposes of making sure that he got my quotes & statements correct for ‘the WRITTEN WORD,’ in other words, for his, nevertheless, highly inaccurate book. The tapes are much better than the book," Trump wrote on Truth Social last year.
The amount of $49 million comes as Trump's lawyer multiplied Woodward's "Rage" sales of 2 million by the $24.99, the price of a single copy of "The Trump Tapes."
Donald Trump. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Woodward since Watergate
Bob Woodward has been resting on his laurels for decades. He continues to secure book deals for his reporting on Watergate and the subsequent tell-all "All the President's Men" in 1974.
However, Woodward's reporting has been dubious since. See his "reporting" on Trump's "missing" call logs from last year for more proof.
At least unlike his former partner, Carl Bernstein, he doesn't compare every move of Trump's to a scandal "worse than Watergate."
If you get them mixed up, Robert Redford is Bob Woodward. Dustin Hoffman is Carl Bernstein. And Woodward is the one who met with "Deep Throat" in the dark garage.
Trump's team stated the following in the lawsuit:
“This case centers on Mr. Woodward’s systematic usurpation, manipulation, and exploitation of audio of President Trump gathered in connection with a series of interviews conducted by Mr. Woodward
“The Defendants’ ongoing concerted efforts to profit off the protected audio recordings and the works they have distributed derived from the protected audio recordings have caused President Trump to sustain substantial damage.