A US judge has dismissed a $10bn lawsuit filed by former US President Donald Trump against The Wall Street Journal. The lawsuit was filed over a report on a letter allegedly written by Trump to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as part of a birthday book in 2003. Trump had denied writing or signing the letter, which included suggestive language and a drawing of the outline of a woman's body.
The lawsuit was thrown out by Judge Darrin Gayles, who ruled that the suit ran counter to the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press. Gayles had previously dismissed the defamation lawsuit, which sought $20 billion in damages. Trump's team refiled the suit seeking $10 billion, but the judge threw out the case "with prejudice," meaning the suit cannot be filed again.
According to the Wall Street Journal story, a letter bearing Trump's name "contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker". The letter reportedly contained a joking reference that "enigmas never age" and allegedly ended with the words: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret".
Trump had alleged that the letter obtained and released by the Journal was "fake" and that the defendants devised the story in order to defame him. Trump's legal team had argued that because Trump denied writing the letter when contacted by the Journal, the paper should have "disregarded everything else they learned in their investigation and not published the story".
However, Judge Gayles noted that the paper's "thoughtful and detailed investigation" that led to the story showed that the lawsuit was "grasping at straws" to "to manufacture flaws" in their work. The judge wrote that Trump's legal team did not prove that the defendants made defamatory statements with "actual malice", which the law requires be proven.
The case was closely watched as it had significant implications for freedom of the press. The judge's ruling was seen as a major victory for the Journal and a reaffirmation of the First Amendment protections. Trump's team had argued that the Journal's reporting was reckless and defamatory, but the judge disagreed.
The dismissal of the lawsuit brings an end to a long-standing legal battle between Trump and the Journal. The Journal's reporting on the Epstein scandal had sparked intense criticism of the Trump administration's handling of Epstein documents. The ruling is seen as a significant development in the ongoing debate over press freedom and the limits of libel law.
Key points
- The US judge dismissed Trump's $10bn lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, ruling that it ran counter to the First Amendment.
- The lawsuit was filed over a report on a letter allegedly written by Trump to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as part of a birthday book in 2003.
- The judge's ruling was seen as a major victory for the Journal and a reaffirmation of the First Amendment protections.
