WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A federal judge dismissed President Donald Trump鈥檚 against the Wall Street Journal and on Monday over a story on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was published with the intent to be malicious, but gave the president a chance to file an amended complaint.
In a social media post several hours after the ruling, Trump said the decision 鈥渋s not a termination鈥� but rather a 鈥渟uggested re-filing鈥� of his 鈥減owerful case,鈥� which Trump said would be done 鈥渙n or before April 27th.鈥�
Trump filed the lawsuit in July, following up on a promise to sue the paper almost immediately after it put a new spotlight on his well-documented relationship with Epstein by publishing an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump鈥檚 signature and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein鈥檚 50th birthday.
The letter , which subpoenaed the records from Epstein鈥檚 estate. Trump denied writing it, calling the story 鈥渇alse, malicious, and defamatory.鈥�
Attorneys for the newspaper and Murdoch had asked Gayles to rule that the article鈥檚 statements were true and therefore couldn鈥檛 be defamatory, but the judge wrote that 鈥渨hether President Trump was the author of the Letter or Epstein鈥檚 friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation,鈥� Gayles wrote.
The ruling marks yet another blow in the Trump administration鈥檚 efforts to manage fallout over its release of the and the president鈥檚 attempts to use the legal system to chill reporting he finds critical of him.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, said the organization was 鈥減leased鈥� with the judge’s decision, adding, “We stand behind the reliability, rigor and accuracy of The Wall Street Journal鈥檚 reporting.鈥�
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