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Ten BILLION $: Trump sues Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over Epstein report

Old_JoeOld_Joe
in Off-Topic
Following are excerpts from an article in The Guardian:

President follows through on libel threat over report that said he sent Epstein ‘bawdy’ birthday note and sketch
Donald Trump has sued Rupert Murdoch and two Wall Street Journal newspaper reporters for libel and slander over claims that he sent the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a lewd letter and sketch of a naked woman.

Trump’s lawsuit on Friday, which also targets Dow Jones and News Corp, was filed in the southern district of Florida federal court in Miami.

The lawsuit seeks at least $10bn in damages.

It came after the Journal reported on a 50th birthday greeting that Trump allegedly sent to Epstein in 2003 that included a sexually suggestive drawing and reference to secrets they shared.

It was reportedly a contribution to a birthday album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence in Florida after being found guilty of sex-trafficking and other charges in 2021.

“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 Journal reported of the alleged drawing. The letter allegedly concluded: “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

Trump vehemently denied the Journal report and claimed the letter was fake. He said on Truth Social that he warned Murdoch, the founder of News Corp, the newspaper’s parent company, that he planned to sue.

Comment: I never thought that I would find myself rooting for Rupert Murdoch !

Comments

  • AnnaAnna
    ;)
  • Observant1
    edited July 20
    The president is abusing his power when he initiates frivolous lawsuits against the media.
    I detest when large corporations subsequently "bend at the knee"
    and reach a settlement especially when the lawsuit is without merit.
    ABC and George Stephanopoulos paid Trump $15M (in addition to $1M in attorney fees)
    to settle a libel suit in 2024.
    Parmount recently reached a $16M settlement with Trump over the editing of a 60 Minutes
    interview with Kamala Harris.
    I'm glad the current defendants have vowed to fight Trump's lawsuit.
    Proving libel/slander in court can be challenging...
  • Sven
    edited July 20
    Trump’s lawsuit against Bob Woodward’s book just got dismissed.
    https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5409559-trumps-long-stalled-suit-against-bob-woodward-dismissed/

    NBC provided more legal details.
    The defendants had argued that federal law barred Trump from copyrighting interviews conducted as part of his official duties, and that no president before him ever demanded royalties for publishing presidential interviews.

    They also called Woodward the “sole architect and true author” of the interviews, just as journalists like the late Walter Cronkite and Barbara Walters were in interviews with other presidents.

    Woodward also said his interviews reflected “classic news reporting” that helped convey accurate information to the public, and thus amounted to “fair use.”
    https://nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-dismisses-trump-lawsuit-bob-woodward-audiobook-trump-tapes-rage-rcna219731
  • Observant1
    edited July 19
    Great news!
    I hope this lawsuit also gets dismissed and Trump's 'bawdy' birthdate note with sketch are published.
    I'm not certain if Trump is capable of feeling shame but wouldn't mind seeing him publicly humiliated.

    Why doesn't the Trump administration release the actual Epstein case files?
    What do they have to fear?
    The administration stated that "credible" grand jury testimony will be released.
    Grand jury testimony is a just a fraction of all the case information
    and its release must be approved in court which is not guaranteed.
    Also, who decides which information is credible?
    Frankly, I'm not aware of any Trump administration officials who themselves are credible!
    If you are aware of any, please let me know.
  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    U'mmmmm.... lemme get back to you on that...
  • CrashCrash
    Alt National Parks are the good guys, operating a shadow website so that the truth can be exposed about ....everything. Their comment about this stuff? Trump's lawyers will have to deal with a procedure called "discovery." Grab the popcorn.
  • Observant1
    edited July 20
    This is yet another example of Trump's diversionary tactics to divert attention while blaming the media.
    I don't believe he wants to risk potential repercussions from the discovery process.
    Trump will drop his frivolous lawsuit before discovery begins (my layman's opinion).
  • CrashCrash
    And will he strong-arm the defendants into a settlement by which they pay him oodles of money?
  • Observant1
    edited July 20
    It's likely that Trump will attempt to strong-arm the defendants.
    The WSJ stated that it will "vigorously defend" against Trump's lawsuit.
    My prior post is predicated on a robust WSJ defense posture.
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