President Donald Trump is seeking an expedited deposition from News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch within the next 15 days as part of his defamation lawsuit against Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal.
Trump filed the $10 billion suit earlier this month after the Journal reported that Trump had allegedly sent a bawdy birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, which Trump has denied.
Epstein, a wealthy financier, was convicted in 2008 for sex trafficking of minors then was arrested again in 2019 and died by suicide in jail shortly thereafter.
MORE: Epstein’s estate has his 50th birthday book, victims’ lawyer says
In a court filing on Monday, Trump’s attorneys said they are seeking the expedited deposition in part due to Murdoch’s “age and health,” noting he is now 94 years old.
The filing also reiterated their claim that Trump reached out directly to Murdoch before the article was published to tell him the letter was fake, and that Murdoch allegedly replied that “he would take care of it.”
Murdoch’s direct involvement, Trump’s attorneys say, “further underscores Defendants’ actual malice and intent behind the decision to publish the false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements about President Trump identified in the Complaint.”
“Because Murdoch is a director and majority owner of News Corp, he sits in the unique position of having readily available all documents, communications, and other information related to the Article and the decision to publish it,” the filing states.
“Moreover, if the purported letter in the Article somehow actually exists, which it does not, and the Defendants have it in their possession, which they do not, Murdoch has easy access to it,” says the filing.
The filing says Trump’s lawyers communicated their request to Murdoch’s attorneys via phone.
The judge ordered Murdoch to file a response to Trump’s motion by Aug. 4.
In response to the suit, a spokesperson for Journal owner Dow Jones said, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
