A federal judge has thrown out former President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch regarding a report on his connections to Jeffrey Epstein. The ruling was made on Monday by US District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Florida, who noted that Trump did not successfully demonstrate that the article was published with malicious intent. However, the judge has permitted Trump to submit a revised complaint.

Trump initiated the lawsuit in July, fulfilling his earlier commitment to take legal action against the newspaper after it highlighted his previously established relationship with Epstein. This was prompted by an article that discussed a sexually suggestive letter allegedly signed by Trump, which was featured in a 2003 album created for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

The letter was later made public by Congress, which obtained the documents from Epstein’s estate through a subpoena. Trump has claimed he did not author the letter, labeling the article as “false, malicious, and defamatory.”

Attorneys representing the Wall Street Journal and Murdoch had requested the judge to declare that the statements made in the article were factual and, thus, could not be considered defamatory. However, Judge Gayles remarked that “whether President Trump was the author of the letter or Epstein’s friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation.”

This ruling represents another setback for the Trump administration as it navigates the repercussions of the Epstein files’ release and the former president’s attempts to use legal avenues to suppress critical media coverage.

The White House has not yet provided a response to the ruling. A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the publisher of the Journal, expressed satisfaction with the judge’s verdict, asserting, “We stand behind the reliability, rigor and accuracy of The Wall Street Journal’s reporting.”

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