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'Grasping at straws': Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein letter

By · Via NPR · Published by Everything Blog

In short

A federal judge on Saturday dismissed Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over an article detailing his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the case with prejudice, making the ruling permanent and preventing it from being refiled. Remarking that the president was "grasping at straws," Gayles ruled that Trump failed to prove the defendants acted with actual malice, noting that the lawsuit attempted to "manufacture" fla…

Key points

  • A federal judge on Saturday dismissed Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit again…: A federal judge on Saturday dismissed Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over an article detailing his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
  • District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the case with prejudice, making the rulin…: District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the case with prejudice, making the ruling permanent and preventing it from being refiled.
  • Remarking that the president was "grasping at straws," Gayles ruled that Trump failed to…: Remarking that the president was "grasping at straws," Gayles ruled that Trump failed to prove the defendants acted with actual malice, noting that the lawsuit attempted to "manufacture" flaws in the Journal's reporting.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Saying the president was "grasping at straws," a federal judge on Saturday threw out Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over a story reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that the president did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice as required by law. The ruling said the lawsuit had attempted to "manufacture" flaws in the Journal's investigative reporting.

When a case is thrown out "with prejudice," it cannot be refiled again and the dismissal is permanent and incontrovertible.

The dismissal is a blow to Trump and his administration, which have both pursued adversarial relationships with news organizations during his second term. In addition to the Journal, he is embroiled in lawsuits involving the BBC, The Associated Press and — most recently — CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which are suing him for restored access after he banished them from the White House in mid-September.

Trump has denounced media outlets that write things to…

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