US President Donald Trump has requested a federal choose to compel Rupert Murdoch to sit down for a deposition inside 15 days in connection together with his defamation lawsuit towards the Wall Avenue Journal (WSJ). Trump filed the lawsuit on July 18, alleging that the Journal’s July 17 article falsely claimed his title appeared on a 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted intercourse offender.
The Journal report described the letter as containing a “sexually suggestive drawing”. Trump insists no such letter exists.
Trump: ‘The letter is faux’
Calling the report “faux” and defamatory, Trump’s lawsuit alleges that the Journal revealed the story with the intent to break his popularity. In a Monday court docket submitting, Trump’s attorneys acknowledged: “President Trump advised Mr. Murdoch earlier than the article was revealed that the letter referenced within the story was faux, and Mr. Murdoch mentioned he would ‘maintain it.’”
The submitting claims this direct interplay factors to “precise malice”—a authorized threshold Trump should meet to reach his defamation case.
Murdoch’s function beneath scrutiny
The 94-year-old media mogul is listed among the many defendants, together with WSJ reporters and the publication’s company proprietor, Information Corp. Trump’s authorized group emphasised Murdoch’s function within the matter, writing: “Murdoch’s direct involvement additional underscores Defendants’ precise malice.”
Decide Darrin Gayles, presiding over the case within the Southern District of Florida, has ordered Murdoch to reply to the request by August 4.
Article revealed amid Epstein file strain
The lawsuit comes at a politically delicate time. The WSJ article ran as strain mounted on each the Trump administration and the Justice Division to launch extra data from the Epstein investigation. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on federal intercourse trafficking expenses.
The article and ensuing authorized battle have drawn consideration from each Trump’s conservative base and congressional Democrats, lots of whom are demanding transparency on the total scope of Epstein’s connections and dealings.
