Judge dismisses Trump’s defamation suit against WSJ a second time

A federal judge on Saturday dismissed for the second time President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal in connection with an article about a letter sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Last year, the president filed a lawsuit against the Journal after it published an article detailing a 2003 letter he allegedly sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday. Trump has denied writing the letter and claimed it was fake. In April, a federal judge tossed the lawsuit , ruling that the president failed to establish “actual malice” in his complaint against the outlet.

Following the ruling, Trump filed an amended complaint in May, where his lawyers again argued that he suffered “overwhelming” financial and reputational harm because of the article and said it was filed with “false, defamatory, and malicious statements.”

In Saturday’s ruling , U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles noted that the amended complaint “falls short of pleading actual malice.”

“As President Trump has not plausibly alleged that each Defendant made defamatory statements with actual malice, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed,” the ruling read.

“And because this is President Trump’s second attempt to allege his claims, the Court finds that dismissal with prejudice is appropriate,” it added.

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team told The Hill in a statement that the president “will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants.”

“The President will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions,” the statement continued.

The letter tied to the Journal’s report was released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which contained a line saying, “Happy Birthday, may every day be another wonderful secret,” inside of a drawing that resembles the silhouette of a woman.

“Of the two surviving individuals who could substantiate whether President Trump had submitted a birthday letter, one person, President Trump, vehemently denied the existence of the alleged letter, and the other person has testified to a federal official that she had no knowledge of it,” the amended complaint filed in May read. The woman referenced in the statement is Epstein’s co-defendant, Ghislaine Maxwell.

“Defendants Safdar, Palazzolo, Dow Jones, and News Corp either knew these facts, or deliberately avoided investigating such information, while nevertheless publishing the false, malicious, and defamatory Article,” it adds.

The latest ruling the judge said that “President Trump’s focus on Maxwell is entirely misplaced,” adding it is not sufficient to plead actual malice.