Donald Trump says Rupert Murdoch can’t prove Jeffrey Epstein birthday note is real
President Donald Trump has asked a judge to let him proceed with his $10 billion ($15.4 billion) defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch. Wall Street Magazine The article, which claims she sent a sexually explicit birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein, says the news outlet still can’t prove the letter is real.
The same birthday note given by the Epstein estate to the House Oversight Committee does not prove Trump actually wrote and sent the letter, the president’s lawyer said in a filing urging the court to reject Murdoch and News Corp’s request to dismiss the case.
Rupert Murdoch and News Corp defended the accuracy of the story, stating that Trump “admitted his friendship with Epstein”.Credit: Reuters/AP
“To the contrary, defendants’ reliance on a purported letter published a month after the complaint was filed proves that defendants did not actually possess or even review any purported letter before publishing the false and defamatory article,” Trump attorney Alejandro Brito said.
News Corp did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the application.
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The report, which describes a 2003 memo containing a sketch of a nude woman signed by Trump and compiled along with other letters as a “birthday book” for Epstein’s 50th birthday, was released amid intensifying criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of documents from the financier’s criminal case.
Trump claimed in his lawsuit that he never wrote the letter and accused News Corp and its chairman emeritus of slandering him. The media giant asked a judge last month to dismiss the case, arguing that the July 17 article was bolstered by the Epstein estate’s memo to the House committee investigating the late financier’s sex trafficking.
The president, who claims to have cut ties with Epstein nearly two decades ago, accused Murdoch and News Corp in his lawsuit of trying to smear his character. Brito said in his filing on Monday that the article was an attempt to “falsely and inextricably link” Trump to Epstein.
“It is clear that the article is intended to subject President Trump to public hatred and ridicule,” the lawyer said. “The defendants did not publish the article on the front page of the newspaper. Wall Street Magazine It’s based on a harmless joke between friends.
