Judge dismisses with prejudice Trump lawsuit against Wall Street Journal
Also reported by PBS NewsHour
Summary
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and other defendants with prejudice. The judge ruled Trump had not shown that the defendants published the disputed report with actual malice, the legal standard for a public figure’s defamation claim.Key Facts
- The lawsuit concerned a Wall Street Journal report about a sexually suggestive letter bearing Trump’s name in a 2003 birthday album for Jeffrey Epstein.
- Trump sought $20 billion in damages from the Journal, its parent company News Corp, its chief executive, the reporters and Rupert Murdoch.
- Gayles said Trump did not prove the defendants knew the report was false or disregarded whether it was true.
- A dismissal with prejudice bars Trump from refiling the lawsuit.
- The judge had dismissed the lawsuit once before, and Trump’s legal team refiled it.
- A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said Trump would continue pursuing the case; a source familiar with his legal strategy said an appeal was likely.
- House lawmakers obtained a redacted copy of the birthday book from Epstein’s estate that included the letter at issue.
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