While Donald Trump goes on the attack against The New York Times, Melania Trump is focused on People Magazine.
The GOP candidate’s wife has demanded that the publication retract and apologize for a story posted on People.com Wednesday night in which a reporter said that she had been “physically attacked” by Donald Trump in 2005 while interviewing the couple at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
In a letter sent by Trump attorney Charles Harder and posted on Melania’s Twitter page, the lawyer says that Natasha Stoynof’s first- person account is filled with “false statements.”
The attorney specifically points to a paragraph in which Stoynof says she bumped into Melania outside of Trump Tower well after Donald Trump attacked her.
“The true facts are these: Mrs. Trump did not encounter Ms. Stoynoff on the street, or have any conversation with her. The two are not friends and were never friends or even friendly,” Harder wrote.
He also stated that if the article is not corrected within 24 hours, Melania would “consider her legal options.”
Stoynoff said in the column that she walked into a room alone with Donald while at the estate, and “Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds, he was pushing me against the wall, and forcing his tongue down my throat,” she recalled. “Now, I’m a tall, strapping girl who grew up wrestling two giant brothers. I even once sparred with Mike Tyson. It takes a lot to push me.
See the full letter from Harder, via Politico, below.
Re: Melania Trump – Demand for Retraction and Apology
Dear Mr. Cagle and Ms Stoynoff:
This law firm is litigation counsel for Melania Trump. We write in connection with certain of the false statements int he story authored by Natasha Stoynoff and published by People Online on or about October 12, 2016 bearing the headline, “Physically Attacked by Donald Trump – a PEOPLE Writer’s Own Harrowing Story” (the “Story”). The Story is located at the URL address: http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-attacked-people-writer/
The following statements in the Story, among others, are false and completely fictionalized. We therefore demand that you immediately and permanently remove each of these statements from the Story, and print a prominent retraction and apology:
1. “That winter, I actually bumped into Melania on Fifth Avenue, in front of Trump Tower as she walked into the building, carrying baby Barron.”
2. “‘Natasha, why don’t we see you anymore?’ she asked, giving me a hug.”
3. “I was quiet and smiled, telling her I’d missed her, and I squeezed little Barron’s foot.”
The true facts are these: Mrs. Trump did not encounter Ms. Stoynoff on the street, nor have any conversation with her. The two are not friends and were never friends or even friendly.
At the time in question, Mrs. Trump would not even have recognized Ms. Stoynoff if they had encountered one another on the street.
Your publication of the false statements is actionable and gives rise to claims of damages. Please confirm in writing within twenty-four (24) hours of the transmission of this letter that the foregoing demands will be, and are being, fully complied with. Failure to do so will require Mrs. Trump to consider her legal options.
This letter is not intended as a full or complete statement of all relevant facts or applicable law, and nothing herein is intended as, nor should it be deemed to constitute, a waiver or relinquishment of any of my client’s rights, remedies, claims or causes of action, all of which are hereby expressly reserved.
Very truly yours,
CHARLES J. HARDER OF
HARDER MIRELL & ABRAMS LLP