logo
Judge in Trump Murdoch libel case handled lawsuit president dropped against Michael Cohen

Judge in Trump Murdoch libel case handled lawsuit president dropped against Michael Cohen

CNBC3 days ago
President Donald Trump's new $10 billion libel lawsuit against media baron Rupert Murdoch over a Wall Street Journal article about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be handled by the same Florida federal judge who presided over a prior breach-of-contract suit Trump filed against his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
Trump voluntarily dropped that $500 million lawsuit against Cohen, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Miami in 2023, shortly after Judge Darrin Gayles scheduled a deposition where Trump would have had to answer questions about his allegations under oath by Cohen's attorney.
The president's filing of the suit against Murdoch sets the stage for Gayles to schedule another deposition for Trump — and for Trump to weigh whether he wants to answer questions under oath from Murdoch's legal team.
Those questions could focus on Trump's past friendship with Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, and comments such as one Trump made in 2002 to New York magazine about Epstein.
"He's a lot of fun to be with," Trump is quoted saying. "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
Gayles was randomly assigned as the judge for Trump's new lawsuit on Monday.
A former federal prosecutor whom then-President Barack Obama nominated to the bench in 2014, Gayles became the first openly gay Black man to serve as a federal judge after the Senate confirmed him in a 98-0 vote.
Cohen told CNBC on Monday that even if Gayles orders Trump to sit for a deposition for his suit against Murdoch, he does not expect history to repeat itself.
In addition to Murdoch, Trump is suing his company News Corp, its CEO Robert Thomson, the Journal's publisher, Dow Jones & Co., and the two reporters who wrote the article that said the president sent Epstein a "bawdy" birthday letter in 2003.
Cohen, who fell out with Trump years ago, said he thinks the president will pursue the case — and that Murdoch will cave.
"I predict Murdoch, et al will settle this matter in the same manner that ABC and CBS did," Cohen said in a text message, referring to recent multi-million-dollar settlements Trump obtained from ABC and the parent company of CBS News after suing those two news organizations.
"Unlike the lawsuit against me, this action has real consequences: such as advertisers pulling away from the newspaper or journalists being denied access to the White House," Cohen said.
But Cohen's own former personal lawyer, Lanny Davis, told CNBC that he thinks Trump will voluntarily withdraw his case against Murdoch and the others after Gayles schedules a deposition for the president.
"If he's smart, even if he has nothing to hide," Trump will not submit to a deposition, Davis predicted. "He doesn't want this story to alienate his base for the next two years."
Trump sued Murdoch and the other defendants on Friday, a day after the Journal reported that a letter sent by Trump for Epstein's 50th birthday was among material reviewed by federal investigators as part of a criminal probe of the notorious sex offender.
Trump has angrily denied writing the letter.
The Journal's story was published as Trump faced growing pressure to have the Justice Department release investigatory files about Epstein, a convicted sex offender who killed himself in 2019 after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges.
Trump had been friends with Epstein for years before the two men had a falling out, long before Epstein's 2019 arrest.
Davis compared filing a defamation case to submitting oneself to an invasive physical examination.
"As a matter of crisis management, what Trump has done is make matters worse with both his base and his critics, which is hard to do," Davis said.
"He's extended the story," Davis said. "If you file a lawsuit, it's the opposite of good crisis management, because you're asking for more drip by drip stories, questioning you under oath."
CNBC has requested comment from Dow Jones, which on Friday showed no sign of backing down from Trump after he filed his lawsuit.
"We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit," the publisher said at that time.
Trump, for his part, has suggested it is Murdoch who would have the most to fear from being deposed.
A spokesman for Trump, when asked about comments by Cohen and Davis on Monday, directed CNBC to the president's social media post last Friday.
"I hope Rupert and his 'friends' are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case," Trump wrote in that Truth Social post.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

FCC chair pleased with Skydance vow to make changes at CBS
FCC chair pleased with Skydance vow to make changes at CBS

Yahoo

time12 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

FCC chair pleased with Skydance vow to make changes at CBS

By David Shepardson (Reuters) -The chair of the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday he is pleased with commitments that Skydance has made to make serious changes at CBS under a proposed merger with Paramount, but said the agency has not made a decision on the tie-up. CBS parent Paramount needs approval from the FCC for an $8.4-billion merger with Skydance Media. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said after a commission meeting the agency continues to review the deal and praised commitments to end diversity programs. Skydance has agreed to have an ombudsman in place for at least two years to evaluate complaints about bias in CBS News' programming if the deal is approved. "I was very pleased to see Skydance put in a filing that says if this deal goes through they are committing to serious changes at CBS. I think that would be a good thing," Carr said. "They have committed to addressing bias issues. They've committed to embracing fact-based journalism." Paramount declined to comment. Carr cited polls that Americans' trust in national programs has fallen to historic lows. This month, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump, claiming the CBS News program "60 Minutes" deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that the network broadcast in October. Paramount did not admit to any wrongdoing. The FCC has required other companies like T-Mobile and Verizon to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs before approving deals. In January, Trump issued sweeping executive orders to dismantle U.S. government DEI programs, and pressured the private sector to join the initiative. The FCC did not make a decision by the 180-day informal deadline in mid-May and Carr previously denied Trump's lawsuit was a factor. Trump and CBS formally agreed on Tuesday to the dismissal of his lawsuit, according to a court filing. Skydance and its investors plan to acquire National Amusements, which holds the family's controlling stake in Paramount. Skydance will subsequently be merged into Paramount, with its CEO David Ellison becoming Paramount's next chief executive. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Trump to check out Federal Reserve's pricey renovations
Trump to check out Federal Reserve's pricey renovations

Yahoo

time12 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Trump to check out Federal Reserve's pricey renovations

The Federal Reserve, known for its tight lips, structured formality and extraordinary power to shape the global economy, finds itself putting out the welcome mat for President Donald Trump. Trump and his allies say a $US2.5 billion ($A3.8 billion) renovation of the Fed headquarters and a neighbouring building reflects an institution run amok — a belief they hope to verify in a Thursday afternoon tour of the construction site. The Fed allowed reporters to tour the building before the visit by Trump, who in his real estate career, has bragged about his lavish spending on architectural accoutrements that gave a Versailles-like golden flair to his buildings. The visit is an attempt to further ratchet up pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom the Republican president has relentlessly attacked for not cutting borrowing costs. Trump's attacks have put the Fed, a historically independent institution, under a harsh spotlight. Undermining its independence could reduce the Fed's ability to calm financial markets and stabilise the US economy. "This stubborn guy at the Fed just doesn't get it — Never did, and never will," Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social. "The Board should act, but they don't have the Courage to do so!" On Thursday, reporters wound through cement mixers, front loaders, and plastic pipes as they got a close-up view of the active construction site that encompasses the Fed's historic headquarters, known as the Marriner S Eccles building, and a second building across 20th Street in Washington. Fed staff pointed out new blast-resistant windows and seismic walls that were needed to comply with modern building codes and security standards set out by the Department of Homeland Security. The Fed has to build with the highest level of security in mind, Fed staff said, including something called "progressive collapse," in which only parts of the building would fall if hit with explosives. Sensitivity to the president's pending visit among Fed staff was high during the tour. Reporters were ushered into a small room outside the Fed's boardroom, where 19 officials meet eight times a year to decide whether to change short-term interest rates. The room, which will have a security booth, is oval-shaped, and someone had written "Oval Office" on plywood walls. The Fed staff downplayed the inscription as a joke. When reporters returned through the room later, it had been painted over. Plans for the renovation were first approved by the Fed's governing board in 2017. Fed staff also said tariffs and inflationary increases in building material costs also drove up costs. Trump in 2018 imposed a 25 per cent duty on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum. Steel prices are up about 60 per cent since the plans were approved in June, while construction materials costs overall are up about 50 per cent, according to government data. Fed staff also pointed to the complication of historic renovations — both buildings have significant preservation needs. Constructing a new building on an empty site would have been cheaper. The Fed has previously attributed much of the project's cost to underground construction. It is also adding three underground levels of parking for its second building. Initially, the central bank proposed building more above ground, but ran into Washington, DC's height restrictions, forcing more underground construction. When construction began in 2022, the Fed estimated the cost at $US1.9 billion ($A2.9 billion), and it has since grown by about 30 per cent. Trump wants Powell to dramatically slash the Fed's benchmark interest rate under the belief that inflation is not a problem, but Powell wants to see how Trump's tariffs impact the economy before making any rate cuts that could potentially cause inflation to accelerate. The renovation project has emerged as the possible justification by Trump to take the extraordinary step of firing Powell for cause, an act that some administration officials have played down, given that the Fed chair's term ends in May 2026. Pushing Powell out also would almost certainly jolt global markets, potentially having the opposite effect that Trump wants as he pushes for lower borrowing costs. When asked last week if the costly rebuilding could be grounds to fire Powell, Trump said, "I think it sort of is". Sign in to access your portfolio

Obama, sedition and Trump's urgent need to distract
Obama, sedition and Trump's urgent need to distract

Yahoo

time12 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Obama, sedition and Trump's urgent need to distract

To any American with an extremely short memory or perhaps a desire only to see the world through Donald Trump's eyes, the recent memo from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and the call from President Trump to investigate former President Barack Obama over the memo's claims of 'treasonous conspiracy' over claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election must be alarming. Talk of 'overwhelming evidence' and a 'yearslong coup,' 'seditious conspiracy' and 'treason' sure sound pretty serious. Well, they do until you quickly review your notes and recognize that A, President Trump has an urgent need for distraction given his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and the administration's failure to — despite big promises to the conspiracy-hungry during the presidential campaign — release details of the investigation into the late American financier and sex offender. And B, this is a subject that has been investigated to death with no fewer than four official inquiries, including a 2020 U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report (written while the GOP had Senate control) and the special report authored by Trump-appointed special counsel John Durham that came out in 2023. And what did they find? There was ample reason to worry about Russian interference in the 2016 race, and it was clear the Kremlin didn't want Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office. Was then-candidate Trump complicit in these efforts? Nope, not in a manner those various investigators could prove. But Russian interference? There was ample evidence of computer hacking, of digging through emails and of using intermediaries to undermine Clinton (remember WikiLeaks?). Or how about simply remembering Robert S. Mueller III? The special counsel indicted a dozen Russians, none of whom has ever stood trial because they could not be extradited. Even then-U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (now Trump's U.S. secretary of state) observed that interference signing off on that 2020 report, which concluded 'the Russian government inappropriately meddled in our 2016 general election in many ways but then-Candidate Trump was not complicit.' Hopefully, most people aren't taking these claims of treason seriously. They serve only to diminish Trump and Gabbard. Think those criminal referrals Gabbard has sent to the U.S. Department of Justice will result in a successful prosecution? Even Las Vegas will surely refuse wagers on that long shot. Those who still harbor doubts can go peruse those various reports (and their thousands of pages of findings). The rest of us will just have to be content to recognize that the current president and his cronies lie like rugs when it serves their purpose. Peter Jensen is an editorial writer at The Baltimore Sun; he can be reached at pejensen@

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store