President Trump promised a lawsuit after The Wall Street Journal reports on a letter, allegedly signed by him
President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against media giant Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal over the newspaper’s reporting on ties between Trump and convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Miami on Friday and seeks at least $10bn in damages – that’s around £7.5bn.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal published a story describing a sexually suggestive letter that, the newspaper says, bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
The president denied writing the letter, calling it “false, malicious, and defamatory.”
Earlier on Friday, the Justice Department asked a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s case amid heightened public interest in the disgraced financier’s connection to Trump and other leaders, and as controversy continues to surround the Trump administration’s handling of records related to Epstein.
In the past few days Trump has called his own supporters “weaklings” for vying for more records from the Epstein probe.
The lawsuit accuses the paper and its reporters of having “knowingly and recklessly” published “numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements.”
The Wall Street Journal described the contents of the letter but did not publish a photo showing it entirely or provide details on how it came to learn about it.
The letter was reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell years before the wealthy financier was first arrested in 2006 and subsequently had a falling-out with Trump.
On Friday, Trump posted on his Truth Social site: “This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media.”
A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the Journal’s publisher, responded, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
Both ABC and CBS have previously reached multimillion-dollar settlement deals with the president after he took them to court.
Earlier on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed motions in a separate federal court urging them to unseal the Epstein transcripts as well as those in the case against Maxwell, who was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 shortly after his arrest while awaiting trial.
The Justice Department’s announcement that it would not be making public any more Epstein files enraged parts of Trump’s base in part because members of his own administration had hyped the expected release and stoked conspiracies around the well-connected financier.
The Justice Department said in the court filings that it will work with with prosecutors in New York to make appropriate redactions of victim-related information and other personally identifying information before transcripts are released.
But despite the new push to release the grand jury transcripts, the administration has not announced plans to reverse course and release other evidence in its possession.
Attorney General Pam Bondi had hyped the release of more materials after the first Epstein files disclosure in February sparked outrage because it contained no new revelations.
A judge would have to approve the release of the grand jury transcripts, and it’s likely to be a lengthy process to decide what can become public and to make redactions to protect sensitive witness and victim information.
The records would show testimony of witnesses and other evidence that was presented by prosecutions during the secret grand jury proceedings, when a panel decides whether there is enough evidence to bring an indictment, or a formal criminal charge.
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