President Donald Trump has filed a libel lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch and others over the Thursday report about Trump’s alleged birthday message sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
Trump has denied to the Wall Street Journal that he wrote the letter. ABC News has not been able to confirm the existence of the letter.
Trump filed the suit in the Southern District of Florida. The Journal did not immediately comment.
“I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!” the president wrote on his social media platform Friday morning.
Earlier Friday, Trump suggested there is no “smoking gun” in the Epstein files as he seeks to downplay a case that’s long animated his MAGA supporters.
“If there was a ‘smoking gun’ on Epstein, why didn’t the Dems, who controlled the ‘files’ for four years, and had Garland and Comey in charge, use it? BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!” Trump wrote on his conservative social media platform.
The post comes after Trump announced Thursday night that he was ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of additional Epstein material.
MORE: Bondi says she’ll try to unseal Epstein grand jury records
Trump said he asked Bondi to “produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval.”
Bondi, in response, said action could come in court as soon as Friday. But the release of any grand jury materials could take longer, subject to a legal process to consider impact on victims and ultimately approval of a federal judge.
The move from Trump to order the attorney general to seek the release of additional grand jury material comes after a week of intense pressure from his MAGA supporters to do more on Epstein following a brief memo from the Justice Department and FBI stating no further disclosure “would be appropriate or warranted.”
The memo stated a review from the DOJ and FBI found no evidence that Epstein kept a so-called “client list” of associates or that he blackmailed any prominent individuals, and also confirmed the disgraced financier died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Bondi days ago had said the “memo speaks for itself.”
MORE: The times Trump’s name appeared in the Epstein files the DOJ has already released
Between then and now, Trump has tried to tamp down intrigue into Epstein that’s been fueled by right-wing figures for years, including conspiracy theories of a “deep state” protecting the country’s elites.
He has called the Epstein files a “Democratic hoax” against him and those Republican supporters who are questioning his administration’s handling of them as “stupid” and “foolish.”
But his administration has shut down the idea of appointing a special prosecutor in the Epstein case.
“The idea was floated from someone in the media to the president. The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case. That’s how he feels,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at Thursday’s briefing.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, penned three separate letters to Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino to raise questions about discrepancies concerning the Epstein files and about the July 7 memo from the administration concerning Epstein.
Durbin wrote that his office received information that Bondi “pressured the FBI” to enlist 1,000 personnel, along with New York field office personnel, to review approximately 100,000 Epstein related records and to “flag” any records in which Trump was mentioned. He asked Bondi to respond to a number of questions concerning her personal review of the Epstein documents.
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
The post Trump files libel lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Jeffrey Epstein story appeared first on ABC News.
