WASHINGTON DC, Nov 1: A US federal judge has dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over a report linking him to a sexually suggestive letter allegedly included in Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday album, the BBC reported.
According to the BBC, Judge Darrin Gayles ruled that Trump's legal team had failed to establish that the newspaper and its parent company, Dow Jones, published defamatory claims with actual malice, a legal requirement in defamation cases involving public figures.
The lawsuit was filed against Dow Jones and its chief, Rupert Murdoch, after the newspaper reported last year that a letter bearing Trump's name had appeared in a birthday book prepared for Epstein in 2003, before the financier was charged with sex offences.
Trump denied writing or signing the letter, which reportedly contained suggestive language and an outline of a woman's body. He accused the newspaper of slandering him and violating libel laws, according to the BBC.
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Gayles dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning Trump cannot file the same lawsuit again. The judge had previously rejected an earlier version of the defamation suit, which sought $20 billion in damages. Trump's legal team subsequently refiled it with a reduced claim of $10 billion.
In his 20-page ruling, Gayles described the newspaper's investigation as "thoughtful and detailed" and said Trump's lawsuit was "grasping at straws" in an attempt to manufacture flaws in the reporting, the BBC stated.
The judge also rejected the argument that the newspaper should have abandoned its story after Trump denied writing the letter when approached for comment.
According to the BBC, Gayles said accepting that argument would effectively prevent journalists from publishing critical reports whenever public figures denied allegations against them.
He further stated that such an interpretation would run counter to the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of the press.
To establish actual malice, plaintiffs must demonstrate that a publication knowingly made false statements or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Gayles found that Trump's legal team had failed to meet that standard, added the BBC.
The Wall Street Journal's report described the letter as containing typewritten text surrounded by the outline of a naked woman, apparently drawn with a thick marker. It allegedly included the phrase "enigmas never age" and ended with a birthday greeting referring to a "wonderful secret".
The BBC reported that the publication of the story came amid mounting bipartisan criticism of the Trump administration's handling of documents related to Epstein.
