JULY 19 – Donald Trump has filed a $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit towards the Wall Street Journal’s dad or mum firm Dow Jones and its proprietor Rupert Murdoch over claims that he wrote a “bawdy” word to intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The US president claims the publication slandered him and violated libel legal guidelines in an article alleging {that a} birthday greeting bearing Trump’s identify was despatched to the late financier in 2003, earlier than he was charged with intercourse crimes.
Trump mentioned the word, which the paper reported he had despatched for Epstein’s fiftieth birthday, is “pretend”.
It got here because the US justice division requested a decide to unseal materials associated to Epstein, following intense criticism of the Trump administration’s dealing with of the case.
Trump mentioned on social media: “We have simply filed a powerhouse Lawsuit towards everybody concerned in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, pretend information ‘article’ within the ineffective ‘rag’ that’s, The Wall Street Journal.
“I hope Rupert and his ‘mates’ are wanting ahead to the numerous hours of depositions and testimonies they must present on this case.”
He mentioned the newspaper and Murdoch – with whom Trump has had an up-and-down relationship for many years – have been warned they might be sued in the event that they printed the article.
A Dow Jones spokesperson mentioned in a press release to the BBC: “We have full confidence within the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and can vigorously defend towards any lawsuit.”
Murdoch, who was seen on Sunday attending the Fifa Club World Cup with Trump, based a media empire which is credited by some with serving to propel the president to the White House.
Getty ImagesAccording to the Wall Street Journal, a letter bearing Trump’s identify “contained a number of traces of typewritten textual content framed by the define of a unadorned girl, which seems to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker”.
“Inside the define of the bare girl was a typewritten word styled as an imaginary dialog between Trump and Epstein, written within the third particular person,” the paper reported.
It reportedly contained a joking reference that “enigmas by no means age” and allegedly ended with the phrases: “A pal is an excellent factor. Happy Birthday – and should every single day be one other great secret.”
Trump denied writing the word after the article was printed on Thursday, posting: “These usually are not my phrases, not the best way I discuss. Also, I don’t draw footage.”
The US justice division request considerations transcripts from the grand jury concerned within the authorities’s 2019 intercourse trafficking case towards Epstein, supplies which can be sometimes stored secret and guarded by regulation.
On Thursday, Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to hunt the discharge of paperwork associated to Epstein’s secretive grand jury testimony.
The justice division formally made the request to a decide in New York, arguing the supplies associated to the case – the place he was charged with trafficking dozens of ladies as younger as 14 – “qualify as a matter of public curiosity”.
The division can be asking for disclosures within the case of his affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted within the youngster intercourse trafficking conspiracy.
A grand jury – a panel of people that vet whether or not there may be sufficient proof to cost an individual with against the law – can hear from confidential informants and people whose identities are protected for his or her security. Materials in a grand jury are sometimes stored secret beneath the regulation, however a decide can unseal paperwork in the event that they resolve public curiosity outweighs the necessity for such authorized protections in a case.
Either method, it’s unclear when or if the paperwork shall be launched, or in the event that they include most of the particulars Trump’s supporters have been demanding to see.
Watch: How are Americans reacting to Trump’s dealing with of the Epstein recordsdata?
The developments on Friday got here amid a turbulent week for the president as a few of his most loyal supporters demanded extra transparency and public disclosure within the Epstein case.
Some Trump loyalists have even referred to as for Attorney General Bondi to resign after she reversed course on releasing sure paperwork associated to Epstein.
Chad Bianco, a Republican sheriff working for California governor, informed BBC News that Trump’s dealing with of the Epstein recordsdata was not what he was “anticipating” and that “thousands and thousands” of his followers are dissatisfied.
“We really feel like we’re being talked down to love silly youngsters,” he added.
Meanwhile, members of Congress are pushing to go a “discharge petition” that might power Bondi to launch a broad vary of supplies that the justice division has associated to Epstein.
The effort has introduced collectively a few of Congress’s fiercest opponents, together with Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who’re each signed on as supporters.
By BBC
