In the United States, a judge has dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10bn lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, calling it “a last-ditch attempt”.
This is reported by the BBC.
Last year, Trump sued the paper’s parent company, “Dow Jones”, and its chief executive Rupert Murdoch. The case was prompted by a report about a letter Trump allegedly wrote to financier Jeffrey Epstein (who later became embroiled in a scandal over sexual offences). The letter was part of a “birthday book” and is dated 2003 — before Epstein was charged with sexual offences.
Trump denies writing or signing the letter, which contained suggestive remarks and a drawing of a female silhouette.
Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that it runs counter to the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press.
Gayles had already dismissed the defamation claim once, when the plaintiff was seeking $20bn in damages. Trump’s team filed the lawsuit again, reducing the claim to $10bn, but this time the judge dismissed the case “with prejudice” — meaning it cannot be brought again.
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The outlet’s report about the book marking Epstein’s 50th birthday, as well as the letter bearing Trump’s name, appeared at a time when the Trump administration faced sharp criticism throughout the summer from both parties over how it handled documents related to Epstein.
Trump said the newspaper had defamed him and violated defamation law by publishing the article. In his 20-page ruling, Gayles noted the outlet’s “thorough and detailed investigation” underpinning the report and said the lawsuit was a “last-ditch attempt” to “invent flaws” in the journalists’ work.
The judge said Trump’s legal team had not shown that the defendants made defamatory statements with “actual malice” — which, under the law, must be proven.
“Actual malice” is a high evidentiary threshold, as it requires proof that the defendant knew the defamatory statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for whether it was true.