Latest news with #GretaVanSusteren
New York Times
25-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Allies Look to Benefit From Pro Bono Promises by Elite Law Firms
President Trump has tossed around many ideas about how elite law firms can fulfill their commitments to provide free legal work for causes he supports, among them fighting antisemitism, negotiating coal leases, hammering out trade deals and defending police officers accused of misconduct. Greta Van Susteren, the conservative media personality and lawyer, had her own idea of how one of those elite firms, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, could make good on the pro bono promises. She wanted the large law firm to help a friend of a friend sue a local Michigan judge. So Ms. Van Susteren gave the head of Skadden's pro bono practice a call about her friend's friend, a 47-year-old veteran, who she said had been unfairly issued a protective order in his divorce proceeding that violated his civil rights. Skadden, Ms. Van Susteren said, initially told her that it could not represent this person and later offered in an email to play 'some sort of support role' in the case. The current Newsmax host, who formerly worked for Fox News, was not satisfied. Ms. Van Susteren took to X, the social media site, to blast Skadden, calling it 'disgraceful,' and tagged Mr. Trump. 'I was annoyed, ' Ms. Van Susteren said in an interview. 'I wanted them to actually help this veteran.' Earlier this year, the Trump administration agreed to spare Skadden and eight other large law firms from executive orders that could have crippled their businesses in exchange for commitments from those firms to collectively provide nearly $1 billion in pro bono legal work and represent clients from all political points of view. Now individuals and organizations allied with Mr. Trump are starting to request that the firms make good on the free legal work they committed to perform, according to 11 people briefed on the outreach, including some who requested anonymity to discuss internal law firm business. In an email to Ms. Van Susteren, reviewed by The New York Times, Skadden wrote that her request to help the veteran was one of 'many outreaches for assistance' the firm had received 'in the wake of our agreement with the White House.' Veterans, in particular, are reaching out to large firms like Skadden, Kirkland & Ellis, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, having learned about the deals through media coverage and Mr. Trump's posts on Truth Social. Kirkland anticipated that news of its deal with Mr. Trump last month would lead to an influx of individual requests for legal help from the public, so the firm set up a separate email address for people looking for legal assistance, according to two people familiar with the matter. The firm also was concerned that lawyers and staff working on pro bono matters could receive threats and harassment from the public, another person briefed on the matter said. At Paul Weiss, which was the first major firm to reach a deal with Mr. Trump, many of the requests have come from veterans, one of the groups that the president suggested the firms could help. Some veterans have viewed the deals as an open invitation to ask for free legal work. In recent months, several have called Paul Weiss's pro bono department asking for help on a range of issues, including their rental leases and medical benefits, two people with knowledge of the requests said. Such requests are highly unusual for a large firm like Paul Weiss. Like many other elite law firms, it has typically relied on public interest groups to first review any pro bono requests before an internal law firm committee formally approves them. The idea is to make sure that pro bono resources are directed toward cases that will have a large impact. Just two months after striking the deals with Mr. Trump, law firms are in uncharted territory. They are trying to make good on their pro bono commitments to Mr. Trump while not giving up their autonomy to choose cases or alienating their staff, who want to work on legal issues that broadly serve the public's interest. But the firms are unsure about how to satisfy the terms of their pro bono commitments, or how to keep track of the work that might qualify as part of those commitments, according to three people briefed on the matter. While Mr. Trump has suggested certain issues and causes the law firms could help with, a White House official said the administration has not made any direct requests of the law firms to provide pro bono work to a particular group or individual. The White House official said he was not aware of Ms. Van Susteren's outreach and declined to comment on it. Still, some interest groups are trying to seize this unusual moment to obtain free legal work. One of them is the Oversight Project, a conservative group affiliated with the Heritage Foundation. The group has sent letters to dozens of big law firms, including some that settled with the White House, asking each of them to provide up to $10 million in pro bono legal work to support litigation brought by conservative groups. Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, said some law firms had rejected his request without giving reasons. But he said some firms were continuing to talk to his organization 'in good faith.' The Oversight Project focuses on investigating government activities that it believes are examples of the weaponization of the legal process. Steven Banks, a lawyer who headed up pro bono for Paul Weiss before leaving a few weeks ago, said Mr. Trump and his allies were stretching the definition of pro bono legal services. Last month, Mr. Trump issued an executive order that said law firms could be enlisted to defend police officers who were 'unjustly' treated in performing their jobs. (William Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, a coalition of police unions and associations, said he was not aware of any law enforcement group seeking pro bono help from one of the law firms that settled with the White House.) Mr. Banks, who once ran the Legal Aid Society in New York, said he understood how some veterans might have gotten the wrong impression that Mr. Trump's deals with law firms guaranteed them the right to free legal help from one of these big firms. Even before the deals were announced, most big law firms routinely did work on veterans issues, such as working with groups that advocate for Gold Star families — survivors of service members who died on active duty. But simply being a veteran is not enough to qualify for free help, since pro bono resources typically go to those who have limited incomes or who have an issue that involves the government threatening someone's rights or civil liberties, Mr. Banks said. 'Pro bono is about representing the less powerful against the more powerful,' he said. At many large law firms, pro bono work can be an important tool to recruit lawyers who want to be part of a firm that does public interest work in addition to representing high-paying corporations. But some large firms have begun to decline pro bono assignments that could be seen as challenging the administration's policies on issues like immigration to stay on Mr. Trump's good side. At Kirkland, a group of junior attorneys have said they won't abide by the pro bono terms of their firm's deal with Mr. Trump. The lawyers have let it be known internally that they do not want to work on any matters that count toward fulfilling the firm's commitment to provide free legal work as part of the agreement with the White House, according to three people briefed on the matter but not authorized to talk publicly about internal firm issues. Skadden's deal with the White House in late March to provide $100 million in pro bono work caught the attention of Chuck Lang, a high school friend of Ms. Van Susteren's. In an interview, he said he had hoped she could use her connections to the White House — her husband works in the administration — to assist his veteran friend in Michigan. Mr. Lang said that the veteran, who believed his civil liberties had been violated, fit the definition of someone deserving of pro bono legal assistance. The veteran, Mr. Lang explained to Ms. Van Susteren, wanted help suing a judge who he said had wrongly issued a protective order against him in a divorce proceeding because his former wife works for the judge and is her friend. Under the protective order, Mr. Lang said, the veteran could not see his children without supervision or own a firearm. The veteran, Mr. Lang said, had spent over $200,000 in legal fees and supervision costs. Suing a sitting judge under any circumstance is tough. But Ms. Van Susteren said she was hoping that Skadden would be up for the challenge. Skadden suggested that the veteran first hire a local lawyer, outlining the firm's reasoning in an April email to Ms. Van Susteren, which was reviewed by The Times. 'As we are sure you can appreciate, there are times when the legal needs of a prospective client are best addressed by other counsel who possess more specialized expertise or local experience,' Skadden explained in the email. The veteran, the email continued, would be 'best served with local counsel and our firm playing some sort of support role.' In a separate email to the veteran, which was reviewed by The Times, Skadden said once he had found a local lawyer that person should 'reach out directly to us to discuss how we can best support their efforts.' Ms. Van Susteren said Skadden should have provided more help. 'Most people don't know how to find lawyers and need extra help,' she said in an interview. 'That task is something that they could have helped him do.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After Newsmax's Recent Dead Cat Bounce, Could the Stock Sink Even More?
Investors have plenty of colorful adages and phrases. "Don't try to catch a falling knife" and "pigs get slaughtered" come to mind. So does another morbid one: "dead cat bounce." This last phrase is used to describe a stock that rebounds temporarily amid a general decline. Like a dead cat falling from a high perch, it bounces a little only to return to the ground. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » I think Newsmax (NYSE: NMAX) stock's recent jump was a textbook example of a dead cat bounce. Shares of the news organization soared more than 20% last week, only to quickly give up all of the gains. Newsmax stock is now down around 74% since its initial public offering on March 31. Could it sink even more? In Newsmax's defense, the company has enjoyed its fair share of good news over the past few weeks. Its IPO started out looking great, with shares at first skyrocketing nearly 180%. Nielsen reported that Newsmax's total audience soared 50% higher year over year in the first quarter of 2025. Newsmax had 33.6 million total viewers, up from 29.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Jason Villar, the company's vice president of media and market research, proclaimed, "These strong surges in audiences rarely happen in cable news. We are clearly bucking the trend of cable news and overall cable viewership as viewers clearly like the product Newsmax is offering." Newsmax now ranks as the No. 4 U.S. cable news channel. It's beating the combined viewership of Fox Business, CNBC, and NewsNation. Perhaps most impressively, Newsmax ranks second for engagement (as measured by the length viewers tune in) for all parts of the day among adults between the ages of 35 and 64. The company is also holding onto its top on-air talent. Newsmax announced on April 11, 2025, that Greta Van Susteren inked a multiyear deal to remain as host of The Record with Greta Van Susteren. Van Susteren has been a key player in Newsmax's expansion of its coverage. If we turned off the TV after hearing all of that good news, we might think Newsmax stock could be poised for strong momentum. However, I think the biggest problem for the stock is its valuation. We can't use earnings-based valuation metrics with Newsmax for the simple reason that the company has no earnings. It posted a net loss of nearly $72.7 million last year. This reflected a significant deterioration from the $41.8 million loss recorded in 2023. However, Newsmax's total revenue jumped roughly 27% year over year in 2024 to $171 million. The company's market cap currently hovers around $2.8 billion. That puts the stock's price-to-sales ratio at 16.3, a high level for any sector. But what about Newsmax's growth? Could it help justify such a lofty premium? I don't think so. The average forward price-to-sales multiple for the broadcasting industry is only 0.48. Newsmax's revenue growth isn't anywhere close to what it would need to be for its valuation to look attractive. Let's look at it another way. If Newsmax's revenue growth doubled the rate from last year and its stock traded at twice the industry average price-to-sales multiple, its market cap would be more than 90% below the current level. There's another dark cloud above Newsmax's head as well. The company is embroiled in a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, with Dominion alleging that Newsmax "published false and defamatory statements" about its role in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. If Newsmax loses this lawsuit, it could be required to fork over $1.6 billion to Dominion. That's a steep amount for a company that generated revenue of under 11% of the total last year. Could Newsmax stock sink more after its dead cat bounce? I think so. Before you buy stock in Newsmax, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Newsmax wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $532,771!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $593,970!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 781% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 149% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025 Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. After Newsmax's Recent Dead Cat Bounce, Could the Stock Sink Even More? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Newsmax Stock Plummeted Today
Newsmax (NYSE: NMAX) stock got hit with another round of big sell-offs Friday. The media company's share price closed out today's trading down 10% despite the S&P 500 gaining 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite climbing 2% in the daily session. Newsmax stock saw another big valuation pullback today despite a seemingly positive development for the business. The company benefited from meme stock momentum in the first days following its initial public offering (IPO) on March 31. Outside of an announcement that Newsmax had signed a multiyear program hosting extension with Greta Van Susteren, there wasn't anything in the way of business-specific news for the company today. If anything, the new contract to extend The Record With Greta Van Susteren is probably a positive development for the company -- but that wasn't enough to support the company's share price. Initially, Newsmax stock actually posted gains in today's trading and had been up as much as 13.4% in the session, but it couldn't hold on to those gains, even though the broader market moved higher as the day progressed. Investors likely saw signs that the stock's meme momentum was fading and opted to sell shares in response. Despite huge sell-offs this week, Newsmax still has a market capitalization of roughly $2.94 billion. With the business posting sales of $171 million last year, the company is now valued at roughly 17.2 times the revenue it recorded last year. While Newsmax managed to increase sales roughly 26% annually last year, there's a risk that sales growth will be significantly lower this year in the absence of tailwinds connected to the 2024 elections. Given that the business also posted a $72 million net loss last year, it's hard to get excited about the stock, even after recent valuation pullbacks. Before you buy stock in Newsmax, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Newsmax wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $496,779!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $659,306!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 787% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 152% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 5, 2025 Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Newsmax Stock Plummeted Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Newsmax Defamation Case Proceeds to Trial in Delaware
The defamation case pitting Newsmax against Dominion Voting systems is heading to trial in Delaware. Judge Eric M. Davis handed down a ruling on on Wednesday that set the start date for April 28. A Delaware jury will now determine whether Newsmax acted with malice in its coverage of Dominion's role in the 2020 presidential election, which falsely alleged that the company rigged votes. 'Newsmax covered both sides of the 2020 election dispute fairly,' the network told TVNewser in a statement. 'At no time did it defame Dominion. This case represents a serious threat to free speech and a free press,, and Newsmax will defend itself vigorously at trial.' In his ruling, Judge Davis acknowledged that segments that aired on Newsmax presented inaccurate information about Dominion. '[Those segments] would likely cause reasonable viewers to think significantly less favorably about Dominion than if the viewers knew the truth,' he wrote. But the ruling stopped short of finding the network guilty of defamation. Instead, that will be left up to the jury. Newsmax issued an on-air clarification about its coverage in December 2020 that also included Smartmatic, which brought its own $40 million lawsuit against the network. The two sides reached a settlement in March. Judge Davis used the 2020 clarification as further proof the network 'acknowledged the falsity' of its reports regarding Dominion's role in the election. Dominion settled a separate defamation suit with Fox News in 2023 for $787.5 million just as its trial against the network was set to begin. Meanwhile, Newsmax also announced that it has re-signed anchor Greta Van Susteren to a multi-year extension as host of The Record with Greta Van Susteren, which airs weekdays at 6 p.m. ET. The network also enjoyed a stellar debut at the New York Stock Exchange. 'I am grateful to Newsmax for the opportunity afforded me and look forward to continuing to deliver a straight and honest look at the day's news for my audience,' Susteren said in a statement.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Greta Van Susteren Signs New Deal With Newsmax
Greta Van Susteren has signed a multi-year deal to continue hosting Newsmax's The Record with Greta Van Susteren. The show, based in Washington, D.C., airs at 6 p.m. ET, kicking off the network's nighttime lineup. More from Deadline Hugh Hewitt Joins Fox News As A Contributor Donald Trump Responds To China's Move To Reduce U.S. Film Imports Amid Tariff War: "I Think I've Heard of Worse Things" Judge Sides With Dominion Voting Systems In Ruling That Newsmax Published False And Defamatory Statements About Election Rigging Her show debuted on the network in 2022. Van Susteren provided legal analysis for the O.J. Simpson murder trial, launching her career as a national news personality that has included shows on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. She later hosted a Sunday morning show for Gray TV and as a contributor to Voice of America. Van Susteren led the Newsmax's coverage of the GOP convention last year and has interviewed figures including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Best of Deadline A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About 'Hacks' Season 4 So Far
