The co-manager of President Donald Trump's successful 2024 campaign sued the Daily Beast for defamation Monday over stories regarding how much he was paid for his work.
The lawsuit on behalf of Chris LaCivita said the online publication's stories that he was paid $22 million over two years — later corrected to $19.2 million — “created the false impression that Mr. LaCivita was personally profiting excessively from his work for the campaign and that he was prioritizing personal gain over the campaign's success.”
The Daily Beast said it stood by its reporting and said the lawsuit “is meritless and a transparent attempt to intimidate the Beast and silence the independent press.”
Celebrity attorney Mark Geragos is representing LaCivita in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia. The filing was first reported by Axios.
The case continues a trend of aggressive action taken against the news media by Trump and those in his orbit. Trump has sued CBS News for $20 billion over editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with his 2024 opponent, Kamala Harris, and sued the Des Moines Register over an Iowa election poll that turned out to be inaccurate. ABC News settled a lawsuit with Trump over its incorrect claim that the president had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
LaCivita, in his lawsuit, said the majority of the money paid by Trump to him and his firm, Advancing Strategies LLC, was to buy media ads. He alleges that the stories created a negative perception for him and his firm and hindered the ability to attract new clients.
In a letter to Geragos last month, the Daily Beast said it would request that Trump and several of his aides be made available for the discovery process. The company's lawyer, Neil Rosenhouse, disputed the idea that LaCivita's business had been hurt.
“The Beast's reporting that the LLC earned millions of dollars by successfully managing President Trump's campaign is not defamatory,” he wrote, “it is the opposite.”
David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social
FILE - Chris LaCivita arrives with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Augusta Regional Airport to visit areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, Oct. 4, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Andre Onana was left out of Manchester United's squad for Sunday's Premier League game against Newcastle following the goalkeeper's latest high-profile errors for the club.
The Cameroon international was partially at fault for both goals in United's 2-2 draw with Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday and was not even a substitute for the game at St. James’ Park, with back-up keeper Altay Bayindir named in the starting lineup and third-choice Tom Heaton on the bench.
“Sometimes, you have to push the player to play again, sometimes you have to let him disconnect a little bit,” United head coach Ruben Amorim said. “You have to manage everything, sometimes people just look at the physical aspect but the mental aspect is really, really important.
“It’s for just one game and we give Altay an opportunity, he deserves it also and then, again, tomorrow is a new life and we will prepare for the next one.”
Onana was a serial title winner with Ajax and joined United from Inter Milan for $57 million in 2023, but has endured an error-strewn time since that move.
Last year he admitted he had to protect his mental health after a series of costly mistakes.
His mistakes against Lyon came after former United player Nemanja Matic described him as “one of the worst goalkeepers” in the club’s history.
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Lyon's Rayan Cherki, back to the camera, scores his side's second goal past Manchester United's goalkeeper Andre Onana during the Europa League quarterfinal first leg soccer match between Lyon and Manchester United at Groupama stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Manchester United's goalkeeper Andre Onana, centre, reacts during the Europa League quarterfinal first leg soccer match between Lyon and Manchester United at Groupama stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Lyon's Rayan Cherki, centre back to the camera, scores his side's second goal past Manchester United's goalkeeper Andre Onana during the Europa League quarterfinal first leg soccer match between Lyon and Manchester United at Groupama stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Manchester United's goalkeeper Andre Onana reacts during the Europa League quarterfinal first leg soccer match between Lyon and Manchester United at Groupama stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
