Former President Donald Trump filed a $49 million lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward, alleging that he didn’t authorize the release of recordings from interviews he did while in the White House.
Trump sat down for 19 interviews with Woodward in 2019 and 2020, which were included in Woodward’s book ‘Rage’ published in 2020. Woodward released the audiobook, “The Trump Tapes,” in Oct. 2022 with the recorded interviews.
Trump argued in the lawsuit that while he gave Woodward the consent to use the recorded conversations “for the sole purpose of a book,” he did not grant permission to use the recordings for an audiobook.
“This case centers on Mr. Woodward’s systematic usurpation, manipulation, and exploitation of audio of President Trump gathered in connection with a series of interviews conducted by Mr. Woodward,” the lawsuit says.
“The Defendants’ ongoing concerted efforts to profit off the protected audio recordings and the works they have distributed derived from the protected audio recordings have caused President Trump to sustain substantial damage,” the suit added.
