Donald Trump to continue legal war with Twitter despite getting account back: lawyer

Former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was reinstated by the social media site’s new boss, Elon Musk, but that doesn’t mean the ex-tweeter-in-chief will end his legal battle against the San Francisco-based company, his lawyer said.

Trump’s attorney, John Coale, told Bloomberg News that his client refuses to drop his appeal of an earlier court decision to toss his lawsuit against Twitter for banning him from the service in the wake of the rioting at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

In May, a San Francisco federal judge appointed by Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama, threw out his lawsuit against Twitter accusing the site of unlawfully censoring him and violating his First Amendment rights.

Judge James Donato also rebuffed Trump’s efforts to challenge Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields social media platforms from litigation for content that their users post.

Donald Trump has no plans to drop his lawsuit against Twitter now that the site's new owner, Elon Musk, has reinstated his account, according to the former president's lawyer.
Donald Trump has no plans to drop his lawsuit against Twitter now that the site’s new owner, Elon Musk, has reinstated his account, according to the former president’s lawyer.
NurPhoto via Getty Images

Legal experts predicted that the lawsuit had little chance of succeeding in court. Instead, observers said, it was a political move launched by Trump, who has also sued Facebook’s parent company Meta as well as Alphabet’s Google, to gin up support among his followers.

Coale said Musk’s decision to follow through on his pledge to reinstate Trump’s account did nothing to change the calculus. He told Bloomberg that Musk should have communicated with Trump’s team before making a decision.

“There’s more to it than just letting him back in so we want to talk to see if we can figure something out,” Coale told Bloomberg.

Former President Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter after the events at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, had his account reinstated earlier this month.
AP
Elon Musk
Elon Musk followed through on his pledge to allow Trump back on Twitter.
NTB/AFP via Getty Images

Since Musk’s Nov. 19 announcement that Trump was allowed back on Twitter, there has been no dialogue between the new management team at the site and aides to the former president, according to Coale.

Coale said his famous client “told me he had no interest [in resuming Twitter activities], but that could change.”

Trump founded his own social media platform, Truth Social, following his ban from mainstream sites.

Trump/Truth Social composite
Trump, who has insisted he has no plans to resume tweeting, has instead touted his own platform, Truth Social.
AFP via Getty Images

Corporate law experts said that Trump could be at risk of being sued by shareholders of his media company, which is in the process of being taken public, if he resumes tweeting, thus devaluing Truth Social.

Trump, who recently announced that he was running for the White House in 2024, has repeatedly insisted that he is content to remain at Truth Social.

Since taking over Twitter, Musk has overhauled the site’s content moderation policies and reinstated the accounts of controversial figures such as Trump, author Jordan Peterson, rapper Kanye West and the satirical news site the Babylon Bee.

source: nypost.com