 "Rupert Murdoch. File image/ Reuters")
Donald Trump asked a US court on Monday to order a quick deposition of billionaire Rupert Murdoch in the US president’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over an article published on July 17 that asserted that Trump’s name appeared on a 2003 birthday greeting for the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On July 18, the Republican president sued the Journal, its owners, including Murdoch, and the reporters who published the article, alleging that Trump’s letter contained a sexually explicit picture and a reference to secrets revealed.
Trump’s complaint called the reported birthday message “fake” and said the Journal published the piece to tarnish the president’s reputation. In a court filing on Monday, Trump’s lawyers said Trump told Murdoch before the article was published that the letter referenced in the story was fake, and Murdoch told Trump he would “take care of it.”
“Murdoch’s direct involvement further underscores Defendants’ actual malice,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, referring to the legal standard Trump must clear to prevail in his lawsuit.
His lawyers asked US District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami to compel Murdoch, 94, to testify within 15 days. Gayles ordered Murdoch to respond by August 4.
Dow Jones, the Journal’s publisher, declined to comment. Dow Jones has said the Journal stood by its reporting and would vigorously defend against the lawsuit.
Neither Dow Jones owner News Corp nor a spokesperson for Murdoch immediately responded to requests for comment.
The article was published amid growing criticism from Trump’s conservative supporters and congressional Democrats over the administration’s decision not to release additional documents from the Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsTrump and Epstein were friends for years before what Trump has called a falling out.
Legal experts say Trump faces a high bar in proving the Journal defamed him, let alone collecting the $10 billion in damages he is seeking. The “actual malice” standard means Trump must prove not only that the article was false, but also that the Journal knew or should have known it was false.