Trump information $10 billion lawsuit over Wall Road Journal’s Jeffrey Epstein report
President Trump on Friday filed a libel lawsuit towards the Wall Road Journal’s writer and its chief, Rupert Murdoch, after the paper printed a narrative on what it known as a “bawdy” birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that the paper alleged was signed by Mr. Trump.
The lawsuit, filed within the Southern District of Florida, seeks at the least $10 billion in damages. It alleges the paper’s claims had been “false, defamatory, unsubstantiated, and disparaging,” and accuses the Journal of “clear journalistic failures.”
The paper claimed the letter, from the early 2000s, featured Mr. Trump’s signature in addition to a birthday message and a drawing of a nude lady. In accordance with the Journal’s report, it was collected in a e book together with letters from different pals and acquaintances to mark Epstein’s fiftieth birthday in 2003. The president has denied the report, calling the letter a “FAKE.”
The president has beforehand acknowledged he crossed paths with Epstein years in the past, however has mentioned they’d a “falling out.”
The go well with names the Journal’s writer, Dow Jones & Firm, together with its guardian firm, Information Company. Additionally named within the lawsuit as defendants are Wall Road Journal reporters Joseph Palazzolo and Khadeeja Safdar, the bylines on the Epstein story, in addition to Murdoch and Dow Jones CEO Robert Thomson.
In a Fact Social publish, Mr. Trump referred to it as a “POWERHOUSE Lawsuit” and a “historic authorized motion.”
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the lawsuit. CBS Information has additionally reached out to Dow Jones for remark.
Going through strain to reveal extra particulars on Epstein, who died in his jail cell in 2019 whereas going through intercourse trafficking expenses, Mr. Trump on Thursday ordered Legal professional Common Pam Bondi to hunt the discharge of grand jury testimony associated to Epstein. The Justice Division late Friday filed a movement to unseal that grand jury testimony.
Epstein was investigated by federal authorities in Florida within the 2000s, which resulted in a non-prosecution settlement and a responsible plea on state prostitution expenses, and he was later charged with youngster intercourse trafficking in Manhattan in 2019. The federal government additionally secured a conviction towards Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. It investigated the circumstances of Epstein’s dying in federal custody, which was deemed a suicide.
The order from Mr. Trump comes after the Justice Division and FBI launched a memo stating that Epstein didn’t have an incriminating “shopper record,” didn’t attempt to blackmail any distinguished figures, and died by suicide. The memo drew backlash from throughout the political spectrum, together with from some fervent Trump backers, partially as a result of Bondi and different administration figures had promised to launch info on Epstein.
