Trump’s court case against Wall Street Journal over Epstein ‘birthday card’ dismissed by judge
Washington: A federal judge on Monday dismissed US President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over a report about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
US District Judge Darrin P Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Trump did not make the argument that the article was published with malicious intent, but gave the president the chance to file an amended complaint.
Trump filed the lawsuit in July after promising to sue soon after the newspaper shed new light on his well-documented relationship with Epstein by publishing an article describing a sexually suggestive letter that Trump said was signed and included in an album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.
The letter was later made public by Congress and records from Epstein’s estate were subpoenaed.
The decision represents another blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to manage the fallout from the release of the Epstein files and to the president’s attempts to use the legal system to chill reports he sees as critical of him.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More to come
