President Donald Trump has requested that a U.S. judge order a quick deposition for 94-year-old Rupert Murdoch in the case surrounding an alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Murdoch is 94 years old, has suffered from multiple health issues throughout his life, is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares, and is presumed to live in New York, New York,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in court documents. “Taken together, these factors weigh heavily in determining that Murdoch would be unavailable for in-person testimony at trial.”
Trump’s lawyers added that Murdoch, who owns The Wall Street Journal, has “an advantage over President Trump as Murdoch is able to defend himself because he has access to all the information and documents related to the below-defined malicious and defamatory Article, and the decision behind deciding to publish it.”
“On the other hand, President Trump has very limited information related to the Article,” the filing says, referring to what Trump has called a “fake letter.”
President Trump sued the WSJ on July 18, declaring on social media at the time, “The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story.”
“Hundreds of millions of people have already viewed the false and defamatory statements published by Defendants,” the lawsuit reads. “And given the timing of the Defendants’ article, which shows their malicious intent behind it, the overwhelming financial and reputational harm suffered by President Trump will continue to multiply.”
