Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against a newspaper and the former head of a pollster who wanted him to lose in the Iowa caucuses, raising concerns about the possibility of an open Republican war on the media with less than a month to go before the primary. his second term in the White House.

The highly unusual lawsuit was filed Monday night in an Iowa court. He’s targeting Ann Selzer—she just announced her retirement, a Midwestern state specialist who, until this election year, was known for her investigative credibility—her company, Selzer & Co., and the newspaper she commissioned. pollster, the Des Moines Register, and its parent company Gannett.

The disputed poll had Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump by three points in voting intentions and had caused a sensation, a few days before the presidential election, which the Republican won, with the margin in favor of him in Iowa finally exceeding 13 percentage units.

The lawsuit is intended to bring “accountability for the flagrant meddling in the election” in favor of Democratic candidate Harris, argues the text, consulted by AFP.

Lawyers for the former and future president accuse the head of the polling company of “inventing” the published numbers and demand damages and interest.

Election law expert Rick Hassen, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, commented on the lawsuit on his blog with a sentence: “I don’t expect this lawsuit to go anywhere.”

Anna Daikun, a lawyer and fellow at Columbia University’s Knight Institute, criticized the lawsuit and called on the court to “quickly dismiss it.”

This is an attempt to “undermine” freedom of expression and the freedom of the press and to “intimidate” those who Donald Trump perceives as his “political enemies,” the New York-based institute that defends freedom of expression said in a statement.

Since appearing on the American political scene in 2015, Donald Trump has been identified with mistrust and accusations against the media, which he has at times called “corrupt” or “bloodsucking”.

The president-elect hinted on Monday that more lawsuits against the media could be forthcoming — particularly against CBS News’ 60 Minutes, which he accuses of editing Ms. Harris’ response in a way that favored the Democrat.

The statement came after ABC News announced on Saturday that it had reached an out-of-court settlement in which it will pay $15 million in damages. dollars to avoid a defamation lawsuit after being sued and sued by Donald Trump.

When contacted by AFP, Anne Seltzer’s team only said it had “no comment” on the lawsuit against her.

Lark-Mary Anton, a spokeswoman for the Des Moines Register, said in a statement that the newspaper already acknowledged that the disputed poll did not “reflect (President-elect) Trump’s final margin of victory in the Iowa caucus” and that the paper already released full research data to the public.

“We insist on the correctness of our work on this matter and consider the lawsuit to be without merit,” he added.