“The supposed letter is fake and the Defendants knew it when they chose to deliberately defame President Trump,” the lawsuit alleges.
President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the Murdoch-owned News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News and The Wall Street Journal.
The lawsuit seeks at least $20 billion in damages, with Trump’s legal team accusing News Corporation and the Journal of engaging in “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting.”
The complaint was filed earlier this week, on Friday, following a barrage of threats from Trump.
“I’m going to sue [Murdoch’s] ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper,” Trump wrote on Thursday.
The next morning, Trump shared yet another threatening message, stating: “I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch ready to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!”
The lawsuit, as well as Trump’s angry social media posts, relate to a story recently published by the Wall Street Journal. In it, reporters explored the relationship between Trump and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire heavily involved in human trafficking.
Among the Journal’s findings was a “bawdy” letter from Trump to Epstein, solicited by Ghislaine Maxwell in anticipation of Epstein’s 50th birthday. The letter included a hand-drawn outline of a naked women, with Trump’s signature styled as pubic hair.
“Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret,” Trump allegedly wrote in the birthday note.
Trump has since stated that the letter is “fake.”
“These are not my words, not the way I talk,” Trump said on social media. “Also, I don’t draw pictures.”
The lawsuit criticized the Journal for describing the alleged birthday letter but failing to publish any pictures of the text or drawing.
“The reason for these failures is because no authentic letter or drawing exists,” an attorney for Trump wrote in the lawsuit.
President Trump also admitted to threatening Murdoch and his companies in an attempt to suppress the Journal’s report.
“The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The Hill notes that Trump’s claims are in spite of the fact that he once had a reputation for donating doodles, with at least one—a primitive and childlike sketch of the New York City skyline—sold at auction for thousands of dollars.
“The supposed letter is fake and the Defendants knew it when they chose to deliberately defame President Trump,” the lawsuit alleges.
Trump’s other comments on Truth Social appear very well aligned with the president’s weaponization of the legal system; in the past, Trump was described by a federal court as a “prolific and sophisticated litigant who … repeatedly [uses] the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries.”
“I hope Rupert [Murdoch] and his ‘friends’ are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case,” Trump said.
Sources
The Memo: Trump-Murdoch story takes dramatic new turn with WSJ lawsuit
Trump files libel lawsuit over Wall Street Journal report on Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday letters
Join the conversation!