A US judge has dismissed President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over a story about a birthday card he allegedly sent Jeffrey Epstein.
The lawsuit brought by Mr Trump against the newspaper and its owner Rupert Murdoch related to a story the Journal published last year, which said a letter featured Mr Trump’s name and was included in an album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.
It represented Mr Trump’s second attempt to sue the Wall Street Journal, and was dismissed with prejudice on Saturday, meaning the dismissal is permanent.
The letter – bearing what appeared to be Mr Trump’s name – includes text framed by the outline of what appears to be a hand-drawn naked woman and ends with, “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to the newspaper.
Mr Trump denied writing the letter, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory”. The White House maintains the signature is not Mr Trump’s and that it looks different from his distinctive full signature, NBC News says.
Dismissing the case at a federal court in Miami, District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled that the president did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice, as required by law.
Mr Trump was “grasping at straws”, the ruling said, and attempted to “manufacture” flaws in the paper’s reporting.
The paper’s “thoughtful and detailed investigation” was commended by the judge.
The letter was reportedly collected by Ghislaine Maxwell as part of a birthday album for Epstein years before he was first arrested in 2006.
The lawsuit accused the paper and its reporters of having “knowingly and recklessly” published “numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements” which, it alleged, causing the president “overwhelming financial and reputational harm”.
Mr Trump had refiled the lawsuit and was seeking at least $10 billion in damages.
Source: 
news.sky.com
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