A court filing on Election Day disclosed that Donald Trump was served with a defamation lawsuit by the Exonerated Five, formerly known as the Central Park Five, at his Mar-a-Lago resort last month. According to documents reviewed by Newsweek, Trump’s director of security, Dan Freeman, accepted the summons on Trump’s behalf on October 24 at 4:10 p.m. while Trump was campaigning in the Sun Belt.
The lawsuit, originally filed by Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise on October 21, alleges that Trump made false and defamatory statements about their case during a September 10 debate with Kamala Harris. The group claims Trump inaccurately suggested they “pled guilty” to a fatal crime, despite being exonerated after DNA evidence and a confession from the actual perpetrator emerged in 2002.
Trump, who was in Arizona holding a rally, later made appearances at a Cuban restaurant in Las Vegas and dialed into a town hall in Detroit. During the debate, Trump stated, “They admitted—they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty—then they pled we’re not guilty.” In their complaint, the Exonerated Five assert that Trump’s claims are “demonstrably false” and note that they were wrongfully convicted in 1989, later cleared of all charges.
The lawsuit seeks an unliquidated sum exceeding $75,000 in damages and other relief the court deems appropriate. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung dismissed the case shortly after it was filed, calling it “just another frivolous, election interference lawsuit” aimed at boosting Kamala Harris’ campaign.
In a historic twist, the lawsuit highlights Trump’s infamous 1989 actions, when he spent $85,000 on a New York Times ad calling for the death penalty for the five men—a move that has faced intense criticism over the years.
Per the summons served in October, Trump has until November 15 to respond to the allegations, either by answering the complaint or filing a motion under federal procedural rules. If he does not respond, the court may enter a default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. The Exonerated Five have requested a jury trial to assess their defamation claims, but details on the trial schedule are pending.
As of now, Trump’s attorneys have yet to respond to the suit.
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