Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump has an exceedingly thin skin. Whenever some media outlet publishes something he doesn't like, his first reaction is to sue the outlet for defamation. In many cases the outlet caves immediately and offers to pay him tens of millions of dollars to make the lawsuit go away. Nice work if you can get it. And this despite the fact that the lawyers for the publication being sued know very well that a defamation lawsuit filed by a famous person is hard to win (to protect freedom of the press). To win, the plaintiff has to prove that not only was the published statement false, but that the publisher knew that (or should have known that) and published it anyway despite knowing it was false. When Trump sued ABC, they made the problem go away for a bargain price of $15 million. CBS made a similar deal and settled for $16 million. This easy money taught Trump a lesson: If you are short of cash, just sue some media company and you'll get $15 million or so with no work.
One publication that decided not to make a contribution to Trump's retirement fund was The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by the crafty and frugal Rupert Murdoch. When it published a piece claiming that Trump sent a naughty birthday card to his pal Jeff Epstein, Trump sued the Journal, demanding $10 billion. Murdoch didn't cave. He just let it play out the way his lawyers undoubtedly told him it would.
Sure enough, Miami-based U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in the Southern District of Florida dismissed Trump's lawsuit against the Journal, News Corporation and Murdoch, finding that Epstein's best buddy did not "plausibly allege"a claim for defamation. The letter in question depicted a drawing of a naked woman and a note saying, among other things, that "every day is a wonderful secret."A few months later, the Epstein estate provided the entire birthday book, from which the letter came, to the House Oversight Committee. Trump continues to deny that the letter is his and insists he never "wrote a picture of a woman."The judge was not buying what Trump is selling. He noted that the Journal investigated the veracity of the letter and reached out to Trump for comment before publication. Remember, it is not enough for Trump to prove the letter is not real. He would have to prove that not only is it fake, but that the Journal knew that and proceeded anyway. That bar did not come close to being cleared here, especially since the card is not fake.
Trump can re-file the case since it was dismissed without prejudice, but if it survives another motion to dismiss, discovery should be interesting. Murdoch and News Corp certainly have the deep pockets to make this really painful for Trump. They could depose not only him but also Ghislaine Maxwell and anyone else associated with compiling the letters as well as anyone who saw the book or spoke to Trump about his contribution. It could get really ugly and result in lots of unwanted publicity courtesy a guy who just happens to own a media empire.
We wonder if the jig is up now for Trump. Next time he sues some publication for defamation, the lawyers there are going to bring this case up to show management and point out that if they fight, they will probably win, saving them a lot of money. This may not deter Trump from filing more suits, but it could stiffen the backs of the CEOs of the companies being sued and make them unwilling to simply hand over money to Trump. (V & L)