Monday, April 13, 2026

Judge dismisses Trump defamation suit against Murdoch, WSJ

A federal judge in Florida on Monday dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against media baron Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal, which claimed the newspaper defamed Trump with a story saying the president had sent a "bawdy" 50th birthday letter to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But Trump will be given the chance to file a new amended lawsuit in the case about the letter the Journal published in July 2024, Judge Darrin Gayles said in his ruling in U.S. District Court in Miami. Gayles said he had to dismiss the civil complaint because Trump, who has adamantly denied sending the letter to his then-friend Epstein in 2003, had "not plausibly alleged that the Defendants published the Article with actual malice."

Posted by qcp at 10:49 AM | 6 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

More: Gayles said Trump's complaint "falls short of pleading actual malice," and also said the president "comes nowhere close to" the standard for showing that the newspaper deliberately avoided investigating the truth of the statements it published about the letter.

"The Article explains that, before running the story, Defendants contacted President Trump, Justice Department officials, and the FBI for comment," the judge wrote. "President Trump responded with his denial, the Justice Department did not respond at all, and the FBI declined to comment. In short, the Complaint and Article confirm that Defendants attempted to investigate."

#1 | Posted by qcp at 2026-04-13 10:50 AM

image.tmdb.org

#2 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-04-13 11:11 AM

You'd think pretending he didn't produce that middle school-ish letter for his buddy Jeffrey Epstein (submitted via procuress pal Ghislaine Maxwell) would rank pretty low on the long list of this man's endless whines. But no, just can't let it go. As for real, presidential concerns? Fuhgedaboudit, he's totally locked into his personal, endless mental ----------..

#3 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-04-13 11:56 AM

The excision at #3 is composed of a pair of words: (1) the shape of a coin as a matter of basic geometry; and, (2) a slang term for an obnoxious person that rhymes with and means the same as the British slang term "berk."

#4 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-04-13 12:48 PM

Or a great LA punk band.

#5 | Posted by qcp at 2026-04-13 01:13 PM

www.youtube.com

#6 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-04-13 01:52 PM

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