The Pulitzer Prize Board is seeking to force President Donald Trump to turn over years of personal records — including tax returns, financial documents, and his full medical and psychological files — in an aggressive discovery demand tied to his ongoing defamation lawsuit against the panel.
The request stems from a lawsuit Trump filed in 2022 after the board refused to rescind the 2018 National Reporting Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their reporting on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has long maintained that the reporting was false and defamatory and that the board's defense of the prizes further damaged his reputation.
According to Newsweek, attorneys for the Pulitzer Prize Board filed a 12-page discovery request in Okeechobee County, Florida, on Dec. 11, seeking extensive documentation to evaluate Trump's claims of reputational, emotional, and psychological harm. The filing was submitted by the law firms Ballard Spahr and Atherton Galardi Mullen & Reeder on behalf of 20 board members, described as prominent journalists, academics, and media executives.
If granted, the request could compel Trump to make private medical information public, potentially fueling renewed media scrutiny of his health. That scrutiny comes amid ongoing press attention surrounding routine medical evaluations, including reports that Trump has undergone at least three "cognitive exams" this year and an MRI scan, as well as speculation over minor bruising observed on his hand.
The board is seeking Trump's tax returns from 2015 to the present, detailed financial records and what it describes as complete medical and psychological documentation, including any prescription medications. The filing reportedly argues that the information is necessary to assess Trump's claims for damages.
The discovery demand also seeks information related to Trump's prior legal actions and his allegations that the board's statements affected the 2020 presidential election.
"President Trump is committed to holding those who traffic in fake news, lies, and smears to account, and he will see this powerhouse lawsuit through to a winning conclusion," a spokesperson for the president's legal team told Fox News. "This case has always been about correcting the record, revealing the truth, and vindicating the president and his supporters against the lies told to the American people by the Democrats and their PR machine known as 'legacy media.'"
In a previous statement, the Pulitzer Prize Board defended the awards.
"Both reviews [of The New York Times and The Washington Post reporting] converged in their conclusions: that no passages or headlines, contentions or assertions in any of the winning submissions were discredited by facts that emerged subsequent to the conferral of the prizes," the panel wrote. "The 2018 Pulitzer Prizes in National Reporting stand."
Trump has 30 days to respond to the discovery request, either by producing documents, challenging the scope of the demands, or asserting legal privilege.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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