Former President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch, News Corp, Dow Jones, and two Wall Street Journal reporters, alleging they falsely reported that he sent a sexually suggestive birthday card to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Florida, accuses the defendants of concocting a fabricated story to malign Trump’s character and integrity. It claims the Journal’s report, which described a bawdy note and sketch of a naked woman purportedly sent by Trump to Epstein, was based on a fake letter and drawing.
Trump has vehemently denied the allegations, stating he never wrote or signed such a letter and does not draw pictures. He further asserts that he informed Murdoch and Journal editor Emma Tucker before the story’s publication that the letter was fake.
The Journal has defended its reporting, stating it stands by the accuracy and rigor of its journalism. The lawsuit has intensified scrutiny of Trump’s ties to Epstein, a financier who was indicted in 2019 on sex-trafficking charges before his death in custody.
The case has been assigned to Judge Darrin Gayles, an Obama appointee known for his bipartisan judicial background. Gayles previously handled a 2023 lawsuit Trump filed against his former lawyer Michael Cohen, which Trump later abandoned. Legal experts note that Gayles’ assignment could influence the lawsuit’s trajectory.
The controversy has also prompted the Justice Department to seek the unsealing of grand jury testimony related to the federal sex-trafficking investigation into Epstein. The department argues that the case is a matter of public concern, though it has requested redactions to protect victim-related and other personal identifying information.
As the legal battle unfolds, it remains to be seen how it will impact Trump’s political standing and his relationship with the media.
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