Trump campaign sues New York Times over Russia opinion article

US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign team on Wednesday said it was filing a libel suit accusing the New York Times of intentionally publishing a false opinion article that suggested Russia and the campaign had an overarching deal in the 2016 election.

In an escalation of the Republican president’s long-running battle with the news media, campaign officials said the lawsuit was being filed in New York State Supreme Court, the state’s trial-level court.

A statement from the campaign said the aim of the suit against the Times, among the most prominent American news organisations, was to hold the newspaper “accountable for intentionally publishing false statements against President Trump’s campaign”.

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The lawsuit relates to a March 27, 2019, opinion article written by Max Frankel, who served as executive editor of the Times from 1986 to 1994.

A draft copy of the suit, attached to a campaign news release, accused the newspaper of “extreme bias against [the campaign] and animosity” and cited what it called the Times’ “exuberance to improperly influence the presidential election in November 2020”.

In a statement, a New York Times spokesperson said: “The Trump Campaign has turned to the courts to try to punish an opinion writer for having an opinion they find unacceptable. Fortunately, the law protects the right of Americans to express their judgments and conclusions, especially about events of public importance. We look forward to vindicating that right in this case.”

The newspaper’s spokesperson said it had not been served with the suit and learned about it through media reports.