Judge Dismisses Michael Wolff Melania Trump Lawsuit
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil dismissed the michael wolff melania trump lawsuit on Friday, ending Michael Wolff’s effort to get a ruling that he did not defame the first lady. The decision leaves the author to fight any dispute with Melania Trump through the normal court process, after she had threatened to sue him for $1 billion over statements about her and Jeffrey Epstein.
Vyskocil’s Friday ruling
Vyskocil wrote that Wolff’s attempt to stop a future defamation case “is not how the federal courts work.” She said he showed an “inappropriate level of tactical gamesmanship” and added that she “will not be conscripted to oversee an abusively presented spat.”
The judge said Wolff and Melania Trump “have a real dispute” and “must litigate it according to the same procedures as everyone else.” In the 45-page decision, she said federal court had jurisdiction but that she was declining to exercise it, and she dismissed the case to be litigated like any other.
October letter to Wolff
Wolff filed the case last October after Melania Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, sent him a letter saying she would be “left with no alternative” but to sue if he did not retract his statements. Brito said the statements had caused her “overwhelming reputational and financial harm.”
Wolff had asked for a declaration that he did not defame Melania Trump, and he also sought a ruling that she would be liable for costs, fees and unspecified monetary damages if she sued him. He filed the case in New York state court under a law aimed at lawsuits designed to silence critics, then Brito moved to have it transferred to federal court and later asked for dismissal or a transfer to Florida.
Melania Trump and Epstein
The dispute centers on Wolff’s statements about Melania Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. In April, she said at the White House that she and her lawyers were fighting back against “unfound and baseless lies” linking her to Epstein, and she said, “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.”
Wolff’s filing said the Trumps “have made a practice of threatening those who speak against them” with costly legal actions. He said those threats were meant “to silence their speech, to intimidate their critics generally, and to extract unjustified payments and North Korean style confessions and apologies.”
Nick Clemens response
After the dismissal, Nick Clemens said Melania Trump “is proud to continue standing up to, and fighting against, those who spread malicious and defamatory falsehoods as they desperately try to get undeserved attention and money from their unlawful conduct.” Wolff has published a dozen books, including four bestsellers about President Donald Trump, while Melania Trump is first lady of the United States.
