The Wall Street Journal seeks second dismissal of Trump defamation lawsuit

MIAMI (CN) — The Wall Street Journal asked a federal judge Wednesday to once again throw out a $10 billion defamation lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump over an article about a bawdy letter Trump supposedly sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In the 22-page filing, The Wall Street Journal reiterated its reporters properly investigated the article and printed Trump’s denial of composing the letter. The publication also maintained the article did not accuse the president of any criminal activity related to Epstein.

“In his latest attempt to plead actual malice, President Trump recycles allegations already rejected by this court, makes claims contradicted by the article itself, and again lumps the various defendants together rather than pleading actual malice as to each,” the Wall Street Journal says in the lawsuit. “Because the first amended complaint falls woefully short of the President’s burden, his case should be dismissed again — this time with prejudice.”

Trump filed the lawsuit last year after The Wall Street Journal published an article about a letter featuring a naked woman and Trump’s signature “mimicking pubic hair” that Epstein received for his 50th birthday. Trump has maintained the letter, later released by congressional Democrats, is fake.

The complaint named Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, News Corp., founder Rupert Murdoch and CEO Robert Thomson as defendants. It also named the article’s writers, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.

In April, U.S. District Court Judge Darrin P. Gayles tossed the suit, ruling Trump failed to show the publication “acted with actual malice,” a required element in a defamation case.

“The complaint comes nowhere close to this standard,” Gayles, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote in his decision. “Quite the opposite. The article explains that, before running the story, defendants contacted President Trump, Justice Department officials, and the FBI for comment. President Trump responded with his denial, the Justice Department did not respond at all, and the FBI declined to comment. In short, the complaint and article confirm that defendants attempted to investigate.”

Gayles did not make any determination as to the authenticity of the letter and allowed the president to amend his complaint, which he did last month. The amended complaint attacked the publication’s analysis of his signature in a subsequent article and blamed the reporters for ignoring his refutations and those of Ghislaine Maxwell, the Epstein associate convicted of sex trafficking who could not remember if Trump contributed to the birthday book containing the letter.

“Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo had access to two individuals who could provide information about the (lack of) veracity and authenticity of the card, President Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell, and either intentionally ignored the information received from them which disproved the statements made in the article, or defendants Safdar and Palazzolo deliberately avoided engaging in the investigation necessary to try and substantiate the statements in the article, which would have failed,” Trump said in the amended complaint.

In its motion to dismiss, The Wall Street Journal refuted those claims, pointing to three paragraphs in the article detailing Trump’s denials and Maxwell’s unresponsiveness to requests for comment.

“The first amended complaint’s new allegations re-package plaintiff’s earlier argument—rejected by this court—that the Journal did not investigate before publishing,” The Wall Street Journal says in the motion. “But failure to investigate is not actual malice. And plaintiff’s allegations are contradicted by the article, which reveals the Journal did investigate.”

The Wall Street Journal now seeks attorney fees and costs under Florida’s anti-SLAPP law, which penalizes those who bring meritless lawsuits against those exercising free speech for the purpose of intimidation.

In a statement regarding The Wall Street Journal’s most recent filing, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said the president “filed a powerhouse lawsuit” and “will continue to hold those who mislead the American people with fake news and smears accountable for their actions.”

The Wall Street Journal lawsuit is just one of several legal actions Trump has taken against media companies in recent years for perceived defamation. Last year, Trump also sued the New York Times and the British Broadcasting Corporation. A federal judge dismissed the New York Times lawsuit earlier this year. The BBC lawsuit is currently pending.

The newspaper is being represented by George LeMieux of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, while Trump is being represented by attorney Alejandro Brito.

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