A federal judge on Monday tossed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for first revealing a sexually suggestive letter bearing his signature that was gifted to Jeffrey Epstein, but the president now has two weeks to file a new suit.
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that The Wall Street Journal reporters acted well within the protections afforded by the Constitution’s First Amendment. Defamation would require proving that journalists acted with “malice” and “reckless disregard” for the truth, but the evidence actually showed the reverse, the judge said.
“The complaint comes nowhere close to this standard. Quite the opposite … the complaint and article confirm that defendants attempted to investigate,” Gayles wrote, noting that the journalists contacted Trump and law enforcement officials and included the president’s denials in their news story.
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When the Journal published its first story in July, it merely noted the existence of the letter among the files held by the dead financier’s estate, describing it as one of many letters included in a leatherbound book compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
“We have certain things in common Jeffrey,” the letter read, adding, “enigmas never age.” The text was framed with the silhouette of a woman’s naked body. When the story was published, Trump immediately called it “a fake thing.” But the newspaper proved such a letter existed in September, and House Oversight Committee Democrats were able to obtain it through a subpoena, leading to the public disclosure of the birthday book.
In his dismissal order on Monday, Gayles noted that “the court cannot make a factual finding, at this time, that the documents produced by the Epstein estate are the same documents referenced in the article.”
The judge also rejected Trump’s legal argument that the journalists meant to hurt his image, noting that “ill-will is insufficient to plead actual malice.” Gayles also pointed out that Trump’s lawsuit was “devoid” of any evidence that he’d suffered legitimate financial losses as a result of the article.
Still, the judge reasoned that Trump’s lawsuit — which he filed the day after the first article was published — deserves a second chance because he “has only made one attempt” to state his claims. Trump has until April 27 to try again.
Monday afternoon, Trump’s legal team said they planned to “follow Judge Gayles’s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit.”
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