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The Wall Street Journal is asking a judge to flip retired Donald Trump‘s revised defamation lawsuit, contending that nan president’s caller litigation is simply a “re-package” of claims already dismissed by nan court.
Trump’s new lawsuit, nan Journal’s ineligible squad wrote, “does not remedy immoderate of nan defects identified successful nan court’s dismissal order. In fact, it compounds them.”
Trump sued nan Journal, News Corp., Rupert Murdoch and others aft nan publication of a communicative connected a day missive sent nether Trump’s sanction successful 2003 to Jeffrey Epstein. The letter, the Journal reported, “contains respective lines of typewritten matter framed by nan outline of a naked woman, which appears to beryllium hand-drawn pinch a dense marker,” adding that a “pair of mini arcs denotes nan woman’s breasts, and nan early president’s signature is simply a squiggly ‘Donald’ beneath her waist, mimicking pubic hair.” Congress later released a missive identical to 1 described successful nan Journal story.
In April, a national judge dismissed Trump’s $10 cardinal lawsuit, concluding that it grounded to adequately allege existent malice, an basal period for proving defamation claims. The judge, though, did let Trump to record a revised lawsuit.
Last month, successful nan caller litigation, Trump alleged that nan Journal “recklessly disregarded” whether nan missive was sent by Trump, noting that nan article did not explicate “how nan signature successful nan alleged missive was verified,” among different things.
The revised suit besides pointed to Trump’s denials that he wrote nan missive and constituent to statements from Ghislaine Maxwell, nan Epstein subordinate who is presently serving a condemnation for her domiciled successful trafficking of underage girls. Trump’s ineligible squad noted that Maxwell had stated that she did not retrieve submitting a Trump missive for Epstein’s birthday. The Journal communicative noted that she did not respond to a petition for an interview, and her lawyer did not reside nan letter.
The Journal’s ineligible squad wrote successful consequence that “Failure to analyse is not existent malice. And Plaintiff’s allegations are contradicted by nan Article, which reveals nan Journal did investigate.”
They besides wrote that Trump “now claims nan Article contains ‘glaring omissions’ that show existent malice. But overmuch of nan ‘omitted’ accusation is, successful fact, included successful nan Article. And moreover if these omissions existed, nary would plausibly plead Defendants believed nan Article to beryllium false.”
A spokesperson for nan president’s ineligible squad did not instantly return a petition for comment.
The Journal’s ineligible squad besides based on that nan article “does not person a defamatory meaning.”
“Even if nan Article had reported that Plaintiff personally crafted nan missive to Epstein—and it does not—there is thing defamatory astir a personification sending a bawdy statement to a friend,” nan Journal’s filing stated.
The Journal besides challenged nan declare that nan article did not see immoderate denial from Trump that he signed nan letter. The Journal’s ineligible squad noted that nan article “dedicated 3 paragraphs to Plaintiff’s denial, including his insistence that nan missive was a ‘fake thing’ and his categorical disavowal of involvement, stating: ‘[t]his is not me.'”
In summation to nan dismissal, nan Journal is seeking attorneys fees and costs nether nan anti-SLAPP statute.
The Journal besides asked nan judge to enactment find pending nan judge’s ruling connected nan mobility to dismiss. They noted that Trump’s squad has sought a deposition of Murdoch, arsenic it antecedently requested soon aft nan suit was revenge past year.
