Could Obama Sue Trump for Libel?

[DonViejo]

March 6, 2017 By Taegan Goddard

NBC News: “Although the law provides a great deal of leeway for political speech, that protection is not all encompassing. And because of the way Trump has leveled unsubstantiated accusations at Obama, he may have libeled his predecessor.”

Said law professor Benjamin Zipursky: “He’s basically stating that Mr. Obama committed crimes, and to state that somebody has committed a crime when it’s false is clearly defamatory. The question is: Is there enough evidence of serious reckless disregard to send that case to a jury? I don’t know what a court would decide on that, but there is some evidence of recklessness.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/03/06/obama-sue-trump-libel/

[safeinOhio]

1. That is not how he rolls.

He will sit back and stay out of the way of Karma.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Apart from the public figure issue, there's also the fact that

a sitting president is generally immune from civil suits arising from actions taken as president, as the Supreme Court held in Nixon v. Fitzgerald. I'm surprised the law professor didn't mention that.

[MineralMan]

3. He probably could, but he won't.

There wouldn't be much point to it, really.

[ProudLib72]

4. That would equate

to an Obama/tRump pissing match. Too juvenile.