Trump asks for swift deposition of Murdoch in Epstein defamation case

NEW YORK - Donald Trump on July 28 asked a US court to order a swift deposition for billionaire Rupert Murdoch in the US president’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over its July 17 article asserting Mr Trump’s name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Republican president on July 18 sued the Journal, its owners, including Mr Murdoch, and the reporters who wrote the story, which said Mr Trump’s letter included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.

Mr Trump’s lawsuit called the alleged birthday greeting “fake” and said the Journal published its article to harm the president’s reputation.

In a court filing on July 28, Mr Trump’s lawyers said Mr Trump told Mr Murdoch before the article was published that the letter referenced in the story was fake, and Mr Murdoch told Mr Trump he would “take care of it.”  

“Murdoch’s direct involvement further underscores Defendants’ actual malice,” Mr Trump’s lawyers wrote, referring to the legal standard Mr Trump must clear to prevail in his lawsuit.  

His lawyers asked US District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami to compel Mr Murdoch, 94, to testify within 15 days. Judge Gayles ordered Mr 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 Mr Murdoch immediately responded to requests for comment. 

The article was published

amid growing criticism

from Mr 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.

Mr Trump and Mr Epstein were friends for years before what Mr Trump has called a falling out. 

Legal experts say Mr Trump faces a high bar in proving the Journal defamed him, let alone collecting the US$10 billion (S$13 billion) in damages he is seeking.

The “actual malice” standard means Mr Trump must prove not only that the article was false, but also that the Journal knew or should have known it was false. REUTERS