Judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday book
A US judge has dismissed Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice. The judge ruled that the lawsuit lacked merit and violated First Amendment protections for the press.
Why it matters
This ruling reinforces legal protections for media organizations against defamation claims and marks the final end of a high-profile legal battle involving a former president.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein posing for a photo together at Mar-a-Lago in 1997
A US judge has thrown out President Donald Trump's $10bn dollar lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, ruling the suit was "grasping at straws".
Trump had sued the media outlet's parent company Dow Jones and its leader Rupert Murdoch last year after it reported on a letter allegedly written by Trump to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as part of a birthday book in 2003, before Epstein was charged with sex crimes.
Trump has denied writing or signing the letter, which included suggestive language and a drawing of the outline of a woman's body.
Judge Darrin Gayles threw out the case, finding the suit runs counter to the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press.
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