News Corporation’s headquarters in New York, in a 2011 file photo. Alex Proimos / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
MIAMI – A federal judge on Saturday, October 31, dismissed President Donald Trump’s amended defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, its parent companies and other defendants with prejudice, according to an order entered in the Southern District of Florida.
U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles ruled that Trump had not plausibly alleged that the defendants acted with actual malice when publishing a story about a birthday letter purportedly written by Trump to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump has denied writing the letter.
The ruling concerns whether the amended complaint met the legal requirements to proceed. It is not a trial verdict establishing who wrote the letter.
The defendants include Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, Robert Thomson and reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.
The court said public figures must plausibly allege actual malice at the outset of a defamation case. That standard concerns whether a publisher knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth, rather than simply publishing material the subject disputes.
Gayles said this was Trump’s second attempt to state his claims and dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice, rather than allowing another revision.
The judge retained jurisdiction over attorneys’ fees and costs. Any motion seeking attorneys’ fees must be filed within 30 days and address which law applies; the order did not award fees.
JBizNews Business Desk | Miami
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