Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. The legal action came just a day after the newspaper published a report detailing Trump’s connections with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
This development coincided with the Justice Department’s request to a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts from Epstein’s sex trafficking case. The request followed backlash over the government's decision not to release more case-related documents, despite earlier assurances that it would.
The issue has caused friction between Trump and segments of his staunch supporter base, with some criticising the administration’s lack of transparency and questioning Trump's reluctance to make the files public.
Trump’s lawsuit appears to be in response to a Wall Street Journal article that revisited his long-reported links to Epstein. The story referenced a sexually suggestive letter—allegedly signed by Trump—that was said to be part of a photo album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.
According to AP, Trump denied writing the letter, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory.” The suit, filed in filed in federal court in Miami, accuses the paper and its reporters of having “knowingly and recklessly" published “numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements," which, it alleges, caused “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” to the president.
In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump cast the lawsuit as part of his efforts to punish news outlets, including ABC and CBS, which both reached multimillion-dollar settlement deals with the president after he took them to court.
“This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the Journal's publisher, responded Friday night, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
The letter revealed by The Wall Street Journal was reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell as part of a birthday album for Epstein years before the wealthy financier was first arrested in 2006 and subsequently had a falling-out with Trump, PTI reported.
According to the publication, the letter bearing Trump's name has text framed by the silhouette of what looks to be a hand-drawn naked lady and closes with, "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret," Trump denied writing the letter and vowed to sue. He claimed he spoke with the paper's owner, Rupert Murdoch, and its top editor, Emma Tucker, before the story was published, informing them that the letter was "fake.”
"These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures," the president insisted.
The outlet described the contents of the letter but did not publish a photo showing it entirely or provide details on how it came to learn about it.
In the lawsuit, Trump takes issue with that fact. The defendants, it attests, "failed to attach the letter, failed to attach the alleged drawing, failed to show proof that President Trump authored or signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported letter was obtained."
"The reason for those failures is because no authentic letter or drawing exists," it goes on to charge, alleging that the "Defendants concocted this story to malign President Trump's character and integrity and deceptively portray him in a false light."
Earlier Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed motions in a separate federal court requesting that Epstein transcripts be unsealed, as well as those in the case against Maxwell, who was convicted of luring underage girls into sexual assault by Epstein.
Epstein killed himself in 2019, shortly after being arrested and awaiting trial. The Justice Department's statement that no further Epstein files would be made public outraged some of Trump's supporters, in part because officials of his own administration had hyped the impending release and fuelled conspiracy theories around the well-connected financier.
In court documents, the Justice Department stated that it will collaborate with New York prosecutors to redact victim-related and other personally identifying information before releasing transcripts.
"Transparency in this process will not be at the expense of our obligation under the law to protect victims," Blanche wrote.
But despite the new push to release the grand jury transcripts, the administration has not announced plans to reverse course and release other evidence in its possession. Attorney General Pam Bondi had hyped the release of more materials after the first Epstein files disclosure in February sparked outrage because it contained no new revelations.
A judge would have to approve the release of the grand jury transcripts, and it's likely to be a lengthy process to decide what can become public and to make redactions to protect sensitive witness and victim information.
The records would show testimony of witnesses and other evidence that was presented by prosecutors during the secret grand jury proceedings, when a panel decides whether there is enough evidence to bring an indictment, or a formal criminal charge.