A federal judge in Manhattan threw out author Michael Wolff’s lawsuit against first lady Melania Trump on Friday, rejecting his bid to head off a potential $1 billion defamation case before it could be filed. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said Wolff’s move to block any future suit was “not how the federal courts work.”
In a 45-page decision, Vyskocil said Wolff had shown an “inappropriate level of tactical gamesmanship” and that she “will not be conscripted to oversee an abusively presented spat.” She added that Wolff and Trump “have a real dispute” and that “they must litigate it according to the same procedures as everyone else.”
The ruling ends Wolff’s attempt to secure a court declaration that he did not defame Trump and to win a finding that she would be liable for costs, fees and unspecified damages if she sued him. Wolff filed first in state court in New York last October under the state’s anti-SLAPP law, which is meant to protect people from lawsuits designed to silence criticism. Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, responded by moving the case into federal court and later asked that it be dismissed or shifted to federal court in Florida.
The fight centers on Wolff’s statements about Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. Brito had warned in a letter that Trump would have no alternative but to sue if Wolff did not retract the statements, saying they had caused her overwhelming reputational and financial harm. Wolff countered that the Trumps have made a habit of threatening critics with costly legal actions designed to silence speech, intimidate critics generally and extract unjustified payments and “North Korean style confessions and apologies.”
The dispute came back into public view in April, when Trump made a statement at the White House denying any affiliation with Epstein. She said then that “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” and added that “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect.” She also said, “I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”
Vyskocil’s ruling does not decide whether Trump can ultimately sue Wolff. It says only that the federal court will not be used to short-circuit a dispute that is still alive and that has to be fought out through the same system everyone else uses.
Wolff, who has published a dozen books, including four bestsellers about the president, now faces the possibility of Trump bringing the defamation case he tried to pre-empt. Nick Clemens said Trump is proud to keep standing up to, and fighting against, people who spread malicious and defamatory falsehoods as they seek undeserved attention and money from unlawful conduct.
