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US President Donald Trump has asked a federal judge to sit for a statement within 15 days in connection with his defamation case against the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to Ruart Murdoch. Trump filed a case on July 18, alleging that the July 17 article by the journal claimed that his name was seen in the 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, late financier and convicted sexual criminal.
The journal report described the letter as a “sexually desired drawing”. Trump insisted that no such letter exists.
Trump: ‘Letter is fake’
According to “fake” and defamation, Trump’s trial alleged that the magazine published the story with the intention of damaging its reputation. In the filing in Monday’s court, Trump’s lawyers said: “President Trump told Mr. Murdoch before the article was published that the letter referred to the story was fake, and Mr. Murdoch said that he would ‘take care of it.”
The filing claims that this direct interaction indicates for “real maliciousness” – a legal limit Trump should meet to succeed in his defamation case.
Murdoch’s role under investigation
The 94-year-old media Mogul is listed among the WSJ reporters and the corporate owner of the publication, as well as the defendants, the legal team of News Corp Trump emphasized the role of Murdoch in the case, writing: “Murdoch’s direct partners really underlined the defendants.”
Judge Darin Gels, presiding over the case in the southern district of Florida, ordered Murdoch to respond to the request by 4 August.
Published article published between Epstein File Pressure
The lawsuit comes on a politically sensitive time. The WSJ article went into pressure on both the Trump administration and the Department of Justice to release more information from Epstein investigation. Epstein died of suicide in 2019 while waiting for the trial on allegations of federal sex trafficking.
The article and the upcoming legal battle have attracted attention from both Trump’s conservative base and the Democrats of the Congress, many of which are demanding transparency on the full scope of Epstein’s connections and behavior.
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