The Dictatorship
Matt Taibbi filed a Trumpian, free speech-chilling lawsuit against me. A judge just threw it out
ByJohn Higgins
Matt Taibbi, the left-leaning journalist known for his acerbic writing and contrarian who has become a right-wing pundit cosplaying as a free speech warrior, had his defamation lawsuit against me thrown out of court on Tuesday. But winning was never his goal.
When Taibbi filed the complaint last November against me and Hachette, the publisher of my book, “Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left,” it was a serious cause for concern. I wracked my brain trying to think of what I could have gotten wrong — then I read the sloppily written and argued initial legal complaint. Taibbi and his lawyer, Robert Garson, who represented President Donald Trump in his frivolous lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward (dismissed by a judge in July 2025), would soon file an amended complaint that targeted some out of context language and presented it as proof that I was making claims I was not. But that argument didn’t stand up to scrutiny, it was the one dismissed this week.
It’s hard to view Taibbi’s defamation suit as anything other than a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP. These are meritless suits aimed at silencing critics.
In “Owned,” I detail how tech billionaires, angry about the state of critical mainstream and independent media, have used their fortunes to try to buy up parts of the business. Those independent journalists who go along with the conservative project often find themselves benefitting, whether from added reach, opportunities to address conferences or contracts. Taibbi’s journey from upstart expat magazine scribe in Russia to Elon Musk’s mouthpiece for spreading the “Twitter Files,” highly curated internal documents from the company that the billionaire used to push his version of an out of control internal bureaucracy at the social media company prior to his taking it over in 2022, is part of that story.
Unsurprisingly, such a critical look at Taibbi did not go over well. He was far from the only target in the book. Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke the NSA leak story in 2014 and has subsequently become a right-wing affiliated commentator, takes up the bulk of the narrative — but Taibbi has proven, thus far, the thinnest-skinned.
It’s hard to view Taibbi’s defamation suit as anything other than a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP. These are meritless suits aimed at silencing critics and have led to anti-SLAPP laws in states such as New York and California. The New York anti-SLAPP law is likely why Taibbi filed his lawsuit in federal court, the Southern District of New York, rather than in state court.
For opponents of free speech like Taibbi, the purpose is not necessarily to win a judgement. These censorious busybodies are willing to endure losses in order to tamp down on the speech of their adversaries, betting that the cost and stress of ongoing litigation will make them think twice rather than continue their attacks. (Trump does it all the timeand he has for decades.) The message being sent to other would-be critics: write truthfully about these litigious anti-speech warriors, and you too could find yourselves in court.
The case is part of an ongoing downfall for Taibbi, who has puffed himself up throughout his career as a noble, contrarian advocate of free speech and free expression — unafraid to take on conventional wisdom in his quest for the truth. His reporting on the financial crisis from 2008 to 2010 broke down the details of macroeconomics for a lay audience who were wondering how the global system was collapsing. A decade ago, as most of the mainstream press embraced Russiagate and went all in on tying Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Taibbi looked for the holes in the story in an admirable attempt to parse out the truth.
In recent years he’s drifted to the right and become fixated on conservative culture war issues. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Taibbi spread anti-vaccine conspiracies and embraced alternative, untested cures to the diseaseall while embracing the right-wing movement that would eventually become Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s “Make American Healthy Again” coalition. He has been critical of transgender rights activists and often targets New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for his affinity for socialism.
The message being sent to other would-be critics: write truthfully about these litigious anti-speech warriors, and you too could find yourselves in court.
The one-time opponent of state power has become a darling of the Republican Party, often called on to appear as a witness by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in the House and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in the Senate. He’s chummily”https://x.com/SenTedCruz/status/1633952123628003329″>rubbed shoulders with Sen. Ted CruzR-Texas, who he once described as an “incurable skin condition.” No surprise he used one of Trump’s lawyers to sue me and Hachette.
All of that is his right. But as a public figure, he cannot expect to escape criticism for his ideological shift. Suing one of his most outspoken critics simply shows the ideological emptiness of trying to fit square peg into the round hole of his self-image.
In January, Taibbi penned an essay for The Free Press, the online magazine founded by fellow free speech hypocrite Bari Weisssaying that by suing me, he was in fact standing up for the First Amendment. A blog post I wrote about the suit “set off a wave of jeers from the online left-wing peanut gallery, who claim to think my legal challenge clashes with my avowed commitment to freedom of speech,” Taibbi wrote in what is perhaps an unintentional exposure of the real issue — conservatives prefer to yell than be yelled at, and see the latter as anathema to a free society.
For those of us who value freedom of expression and the American value of standing up to the powerful, it’s a good outcome, the dismissal of Taibbi’s suit this week is a good sign for free speech in the U.S. It shows that a powerful man can’t wield the legal system as a weapon against his critics and be assured a victory. We still live in enough of a free society that you can’t buy a verdict.
But while today’s legal win is a welcome development, I can’t be sure that Taibbi won’t appeal it. He has more than enough money to keep the case going and drag myself and Hachette into court again in order to send a message.
Criticism of the powerful is key to a free society. If people like Taibbi can continue to use the legal system to intimidate and harass their ideological opponents — no matter how they dress it up as a defense of free speech — then they have found a loophole to the First Amendment. It’s up to all of us to refuse to be intimidated, and continue to confront power.
John Higgins
Eoin Higgins is a writer based in New England. His book, “Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left,” is available now.
Over the course of June, Donald Trump spent nearly every day focusing attention on assorted construction and beautification projects, emphasizing the unavoidable conclusion that the president takes his renovation crusade very seriously.
His allies aren’t necessarily pleased. The Hill recently reported that Republican officials, worried about the midterm elections and maintaining partisan control, have been “thrown off-balance” by, among other things, Trump’s focus on “pet projects” instead of more meaningful national priorities.
The list of projects keeps growing nevertheless. It includes (but is by no means limited to) the ballroomthe Reflecting Poolthe “triumphal arch,” the fountainsthe horse statuesthe “Trump Promenade,” the “statue garden” and the dozen or so additional renovation projects he’s prioritized in and around the White House complex.
But let’s also not forget the helipad.
A couple of months ago, The Washington PostThe Wall Street Journal and The New York Times separately published similar reports about Trump hoping to build a permanent helicopter landing site on the White House grounds. Evidently, those plans have now advanced to the construction stage. The Post reported this week:
President Donald Trump has begun construction on a new White House helipad, his latest change to the historic grounds, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the project publicly.
Construction crews worked into the night Monday on the White House’s South Lawn, with the project blocked off by a large fence.
The report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added that the project hasn’t yet been formally announced by the White House, even as construction is apparently underway.
It’s not yet clear how much the project will cost, who will pick the tab and whether this has joined the growing list of no-bid contracts.
Unlike some of the president’s other priorities, there is a legitimate issue here — the latest generation of helicopters really do damage the White House lawn — although this doesn’t answer the other lingering questions or explain why Team Trump hasn’t acknowledged the existence of the project.
What’s more, this almost certainly won’t be the last of the Republican’s projects.
Earlier this week, the president used his social media platform to promote an artificial intelligence-generated image of a gold eagle affixed to the White House exterior. Trump added in his online image, “A Golden Gift to the White House for its 250th Birthday Year!”
The text (which erroneously said the White House is celebrating its semiquincentennial) suggested the president intends to add this gaudy addition to his ambitious renovation agenda.
Recent polling has found two-thirds of Americans are convinced their unpopular president simply has the wrong priorities. Trump could take steps to change their mind, but he apparently doesn’t want to.
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
The Dictatorship
Hegseth blasts protesters at ceremony for D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force: ‘Ingrates’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday derided protesters at an event in Washington, D.C., tied to the America 250 celebrationscalling the demonstrators “ingrates” who are “blinded by ideology.”
The D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force event in Meridian Hill Park was set to begin at 9 a.m. ET but did not start until roughly 30 minutes later, as members of the National Guard waited for Hegseth’s arrival amid a brutal heat wave. Protesters shouted during his brief address, in which he said he was to blame for the delay and praised the troops for their service.
“In fact, this background noise this morning is perfect,” Hegseth said about the protesters, with White House adviser Stephen Miller and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche standing behind him.
“It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them,” Hegseth said. “That there’s nothing ideological about this group, there’s nothing political about this exercise.”
Some protesters could be heard shouting “Shame!” and “Guard, go home!”
Pete Hegseth: “This background noise is perfect. It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude, of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them.” pic.twitter.com/aWt5ciuRG3
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)”https://x.com/atrupar/status/2072679604184109222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 2, 2026
National Guard troops have been deployed to assist with America 250 celebrations in the capital, though some Democratic governors have warned against their guard members being utilized for a larger federal joint task force to tackle what the Trump administration has called“rampant crime” in Washington.
Many Washington residents are not thrilled with the National Guard’s presence. The controversial America 250 festivities have also sparked criticism from Democrats who accuse President Donald Trump of putting himself at the center of the celebrations.
At the Thursday ceremony, Hegseth suggested the protesters were not from Washington.
“These ingrates will fade away; they’ll go back to wherever they came from,” he said, before asserting that National Guard troops have brought the crime rate down in the capital — a claim that at least one study has found to be inaccurate.
“The crime rate here has dropped in staggering amounts, and the media won’t want to admit it because, of course, they’d have to give credit to President Trump, and then they’d have to give credit to the Department of War or to Stephen Miller,” Hegseth said. “But courageous men like President Trump and Stephen, who said enough is enough, are the reason why this city is a safe and beautiful place.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
Stephanie Ruhle said she was left “almost speechless” after the release of Donald Trump’s new financial disclosureswhich reported he raked in more than $2 billion since returning to the White House. “Man, it looks good to be president,” the “Money, Power, Politics” host said Wednesday.
According to the 927-page document released Tuesday, Trump’s income has only increased since retaking the White House. The president reported almost $575 million in real estate and golf-related income and another $68.6 million in royalties and licensing fees.
But, as Ruhle pointed out, $1.4 billion of Trump’s 2025 total comes directly from one industry: crypto.
Despite having called that industry a “scam” and a “disaster waiting to happen” in 2021, Trump has in recent years appeared to have a change of heart about digital currency.
“That was just five years ago, but now he is a major crypto industry operator and essentially its top policy maker,” the MS NOW host said. “Remember, he is the one who appointed regulators that changed the rules to hugely benefit the crypto industry, and since he came back to office, he has either completely dropped or settled a whole lot of cases with crypto companies.”
As Trump rakes in more cash, Ruhle said the American people are not experiencing the same kind of prosperity, in part because of the administration’s policies. “[They] are suffering, whether it’s because of tariffs, whether it’s because of inflation, whether it’s because of increased costs, because of the war in Iran,” she said.
While Ruhle noted the president has said he does not choose his investments and has said they are in a “blind account,” she said the American people should not ignore how much Trump has profited since returning to the White House.
“Here’s what you need to know: All of this would be a major conflict of interest — a huge scandal — if it were any other presidency,” she argued.
You can watch Ruhle’s full breakdown in the clip below.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”
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