Donald Trump filed an amended defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over the publication’s reporting on a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein.
A federal judge dismissed Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit in April, concluding that it failed to adequately allege actual malice, but allowed the president to file an amended lawsuit.
The new complaint again names Rupert Murdoch, parent Dow Jones, News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson and reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzo as co-defendants.
Last summer, the Journal reported on a letter in Trump’s name that was included in an album given to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. The letter, the Journal reported, “contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker,” adding that a “pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.”
The article did include Trump’s denial that he wrote the letter, and that he was preparing to sue the Journal. When the lawsuit was dismissed in April, a spokesperson said, “We are pleased with the judge’s decision to dismiss this complaint. We stand behind the reliability, rigor and accuracy of The Wall Street Journal’s reporting.”
In the revised lawsuit, Trump’s attorneys claimed that the reporters “falsely pass off as fact that President Trump, in 2003, wrote, drew, and signed this letter. However, on the other hand, Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo failed to attach the supposed letter, failed to attach the alleged drawing, failed to show proof that President Trump authored or signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported letter was obtained. The reason for those failures is that Defendants did not have access to any such letter when the Article was published, which is a fact because no authentic letter or drawing exists. Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo concocted this story to malign President Trump’s character and integrity, and to deceptively portray him in a false light.”
A spokesperson for Dow Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In September, the House Oversight Committee released documents that included a letter matching the Journal‘s description. Trump has continued to deny that he authored the letter.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said, “The President will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions.”
In the amended lawsuit, the president’s legal team pointed to Trump’s denials that he wrote the letter and point to statements from Ghislaine Maxwell, the Epstein associate who is currently serving a sentence for her role in trafficking of underage girls. The lawsuit noted that Maxwell had stated that she did not remember submitting a Trump letter for Epstein’s birthday. The Journal story noted that she did not respond to a request for an interview, and her attorney did not address the letter.
The new lawsuit stated, “Of the two surviving individuals who could substantiate whether President Trump had submitted a birthday letter, one person, President Trump, vehemently denied the existence of the alleged letter, and the other person has testified to a federal official that she had no knowledge of it.” The lawsuit also cited references Trump being a “friend,” “pal,” or “family” of Epstein. The article noted that Trump and Epstein spent time together in the 1990s and early 20002, and were phographed at social events.
The lawsuit claimed that the Journal “recklessly disregarded” whether the letter was sent by Trump, noting that the article did not explain “how the signature in the alleged letter was verified,” among other things.
As in his original lawsuit, Trump’s legal team claimed that before the story was published, he spoke to Murdoch to deny signing or sending the letter. The lawsuit claimed, “In response, Murdoch stated, ‘I will handle it,’ which President Trump reasonably interpreted as meaning that Murdoch believed President Trump, and that the article would not be published.”
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