Washington (USA), Nov. 1 (LaPresse) – A federal judge has definitively dismissed the $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump against the Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over an article about his relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein. District Judge Darrin Gayles, in Miami, ruled that Trump had failed to demonstrate that the defendants had published defamatory statements knowing they were false or with reckless disregard for the truth, a requirement under US law for lawsuits brought by public figures. The lawsuit was dismissed “with prejudice”, a legal term that prevents it from being refiled, making the decision final. According to the judge, the president’s complaint “grasped at any straw” in an attempt to “manufacture” alleged misconduct in the journalistic investigation. The dispute concerns an article published last year by the Wall Street Journal about a sexually suggestive letter, accompanied by a drawing of a naked woman, which the newspaper said bore Trump’s name and was included in an album created in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday. The president has always denied writing the letter, describing the article as “false, malicious and defamatory”, and accused the newspaper and its reporters of knowingly publishing false claims, causing him serious financial and reputational damage. Judge Gayles had already dismissed the lawsuit in April, while allowing Trump the opportunity to file an amended complaint, which was submitted in May. In today’s ruling, citing a landmark 1964 Supreme Court decision on freedom of the press, the judge determined that the new complaint also failed to demonstrate actual malice on the part of the journalists.
US: Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against Wall Street Journal dismissed
Washington (USA), Nov. 1 (LaPresse) – A federal judge has definitively dismissed the $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump against the Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over an article about his relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein. District Judge Darrin Gayles, in Miami, ruled that Trump had failed to demonstrate that the defendants had published defamatory statements knowing they were false or with reckless disregard for the truth, a requirement under US law for lawsuits brought by public figures. The lawsuit was dismissed “with prejudice”, a legal term that prevents it from being refiled, making the decision final. According to the judge, the president’s complaint “grasped at any straw” in an attempt to “manufacture” alleged misconduct in the journalistic investigation. The dispute concerns an article published last year by the Wall Street Journal about a sexually suggestive letter, accompanied by a drawing of a naked woman, which the newspaper said bore Trump’s name and was included in an album created in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday. The president has always denied writing the letter, describing the article as “false, malicious and defamatory”, and accused the newspaper and its reporters of knowingly publishing false claims, causing him serious financial and reputational damage. Judge Gayles had already dismissed the lawsuit in April, while allowing Trump the opportunity to file an amended complaint, which was submitted in May. In today’s ruling, citing a landmark 1964 Supreme Court decision on freedom of the press, the judge determined that the new complaint also failed to demonstrate actual malice on the part of the journalists.