Swamp Drain previously reported that MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell tried to bring President Trump’s speculated connections with Russia front and center again during a recent appearance with Rachel Maddow, Tuesday. O’Donnell claimed he has “sources” who know Deutsche Bank has information related to President Trump that involves “Russian oligarchs” assisting his business dealings.
President Trump’s legal team, however, sent a letter Wednesday to NBC demanding an apology and retraction for “false and defamatory, and extremely damaging” comments made by liberal MSNBC host O’Donnell, who ran with a singled-sourced, unverified report.
Lawrence O’Donnell’s revelation came as Deutsche Bank said in a court filing “that it has tax returns relevant to House Democrats’ subpoenas for financial records of President Trump, his family and his businesses,” according to The Hill.
The bank, however, didn’t disclose publicly whose returns it had.
In regards to what Deutsche bank might have in their possession, O’Donnell explained to Rachel Maddow that a “source close to Deutsche Bank” told him that “Donald Trump’s loan documents there show that he has co-signers — that’s how he was able to obtain those loans.”
“And that the co-signers are Russian oligarchs,” O’Donnell declared as Maddow dramatically sunk back in her seat. (Continued Below)
The letter President Trump’s legal team sent to NBC news was obtained by Fox News, to which they reported the letter reads: “We write concerning the false and defamatory statements published by Lawrence O’Donnell and NBC Universal. Demand is hereby made that Mr. O’Donnell and NBCU immediately and prominently retract, correct and apologize for the aforementioned false and defamatory statements.”
The letter, written by Charles J. Hader, asked for NBC to confirm in 24 hours: “O’Donnell and NBCU will immediately and prominently retract, correct and apologize for the aforementioned false and defamatory statements,” per Fox News.
“Failure to do so will leave my clients with no alternative but to consider their legal options which could include immediate legal proceedings against Mr. O’Donnell and NBCU,” Hader added. (Video Below)
Just in: Attorney for @realDonaldTrump sends demand for retraction, corrctn, and apology to @nbc over segment of @Lawrence program last nite in which he said “Russian oligarchs” co-signed Deutsche Bank loans to Trump. Letter says that statement is “false and defamatory.” Letter: pic.twitter.com/HY0ZRAES5i
— Paul Farhi (@farhip) August 28, 2019
Lawrence O’Donnell’s official remarks
Definitely a good sign when *Rachel Maddow* reacts to your Trump-Russia allegation like this pic.twitter.com/Ur6k98ZkIb
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) August 28, 2019
“These statements are false and defamatory, and extremely damaging. The only borrowers under these loans are Trump entities, and Mr. Trump is the only guarantor. Numerous documents for each of these loans are also recorded, publicly available and searchable online. Thus, actual malice can easily be proven based on your reckless disregard of the truth and unreasonable reliance on an alleged ‘source’ who you will not even identify in your story and likely is seeking to mislead you and the public for political reasons or other ulterior motives,” the letter said in response to O’Donnell’s report.
The letter concludes by stating that if NBC fails to retract the story and apologize, Trump will “pursue all available causes of action and seek all available damages and other legal remedies to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
(Continued Below)
The letter came after White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham blasted O’Donnell on Wednesday over the story. “This is one of the reasons that a majority of Americans have lost trust in the media. Instead of applying ethics and standards to their reporting, journalists and left-wing outlets have weaponized the media, using it to attack and harass people with little to no regard for the truth,” Grisham told Fox News.
From Fox News:
MSNBC’s primetime hosts have a long history of running with unverified claims regarding Trump and Russia. “The Rachel Maddow Show” has plummeted to fifth overall among cable news programs after she dedicated substantial airtime since Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 to speculating about whether or not Trump colluded with Russia.
Viewers began turning away when Maddow’s collusion theory was discredited by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report and testimony. Ex-MSNBC host Krystal Ball even blasted her former colleague earlier this year for floating wild “Russian conspiracy theories” that blew up when Mueller didn’t substantiate them.
(Related: Swalwell Calls For Barr’s Impeachment For Reportedly Booking A Party At Trump’s Hotel)
