By Nandita Bose and Jonathan Stempel
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump sued the Wall Street Journal and its owners including Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 billion on Friday, over the newspaper’s report that his name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for Jeffrey Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.
The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court names Murdoch, Dow Jones, News Corp and its Chief Executive Robert Thomson, and two Wall Street Journal reporters as defendants, saying they defamed Trump and caused him to suffer “overwhelming” financial and reputational harm.
Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019.
His case has generated conspiracy theories that became popular among Trump’s base of supporters who believed the government was covering up Epstein’s ties to the rich and powerful.
Trump has said he parted ways with Epstein before the financier’s legal troubles became public in 2006.
The president has vehemently denied the Journal report, which Reuters has not verified, and had warned Murdoch that he planned to sue. Dow Jones, the parent of the newspaper, is a division of News Corp.
“We have just filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is, The Wall Street Journal,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“I hope Rupert and his ‘friends’ are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case,” Trump added.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones said in a statement: “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
The lawsuit called Trump’s alleged birthday greeting “fake,” and said the Journal published its article to harm Trump’s reputation.
“Tellingly, the Article does not explain whether Defendants have obtained a copy of the letter, have seen it, have had it described to them, or any other circumstances that would otherwise lend credibility to the Article,” the lawsuit said.
To prevail on his defamation claims, Trump must show the defendants acted with “actual malice,” meaning they knew the article was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth.
A $10 billion award would far exceed the largest defamation judgments and settlements in recent history.
These include a $1.5 billion judgment against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.
“Ten billion dollars is a ridiculously high number,” said Jesse Gessin, a lawyer with experience in defamation and First Amendment litigation. “It would be the largest defamation verdict in U.S. history.”
WHITE HOUSE ROILED
The Epstein affair has increasingly disquieted the White House, after the Justice Department this month concluded that there was no evidence to support long-held conspiracy theories about his clients and death.
Some of Trump’s most loyal followers became furious after his administration reversed course on its promise to release files on Epstein.
A Justice Department memo released on July 7 concluded that Epstein killed himself and said there was “no incriminating client list” or evidence that Epstein blackmailed prominent people.
With pressure to release the Epstein files building, Trump on Thursday said he directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask a court to release grand jury testimony about Epstein.
The U.S. government on Friday filed a motion in Manhattan federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in the cases of Epstein and former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
She was convicted in 2021 of five federal charges related to her role in Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls. Maxwell is appealing her conviction and 20-year prison sentence to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Public officials, lawmakers, pundits, and ordinary citizens remain deeply interested and concerned about the Epstein matter,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the filing. “After all, Jeffrey Epstein is the most infamous pedophile in American history.”
Blanche said prosecutors would work to redact all victim-identifying information before making anything public.
The release of the grand jury documents may fall short of what many of Trump’s supporters have sought, including case files held by the administration, and a judge may reject the administration’s request to make the transcripts public.
BAWDY LETTER
The Journal said the letter bearing Trump’s name was part of a leather-bound birthday book for Epstein that included messages from other high-profile people.
It also said the letter contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appeared to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker.
The newspaper said the letter concluded “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret,” and featured the signature “Donald.”
Allegations that Epstein sexually abused girls became public in 2006, after the birthday book was allegedly produced, and he was arrested that year before accepting a plea deal.
Epstein died just over a month after he was arrested for a second time and charged with sex-trafficking conspiracy.
Trump was photographed with Epstein multiple times in social situations in the 1990s and early 2000s, and had been a neighbor of Epstein’s in Florida.
He was quoted in 2002 in New York magazine as saying, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
In 2019, Trump told reporters that he and Epstein had a “falling out” before the financier was first arrested.
Trump said he “knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him” but that “I had a falling out with him. I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you.”
(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Trevor Hunnicutt and Jasper Ward in Washington; Jonathan Stempel and Dietrich Knauth in New York; Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia; Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles, and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Rosalba O’Brien and Diane Craft)
Comments