Michael Wolff Launches Bombshell Lawsuit Against Melania Trump Over Epstein

Bestselling author Michael Wolff is suing Melania Trump in an unprecedented lawsuit after she threatened to sue him for $1 billion.

The author, co-host of The Daily Beast’s popular podcast “Inside Trump,” accuses the First Lady of infringing on his freedom of speech and attempting to obstruct a “legitimate investigation” into the Jeffrey Epstein affair.

This is the first time Melania Trump has been sued as First Lady, and appears to be the first time a lawsuit has been filed against the wife of a president. Wolff is asking the court to allow him to question Melania and Donald Trump under oath about their relationship with Epstein.

Wolff’s lawyers filed the lawsuit in New York state court Tuesday evening after the First Lady’s legal team sent a letter threatening to sue the First Lady for damages “in excess of $1 billion.”

Melania Wolf accused her lawyer, Alejandro Prieto, of making “false, defamatory, and obscene” statements, accusing him of making “extremely outrageous” allegations that affected tens of millions of people around the world. In his letter, Prieto demanded that Wolf retract his statements, including Epstein’s claim that Melania first had sex with Trump on the deceased pedophile’s private jet, or face at least $1 billion in damages.

Wolf invokes so-called “anti-slap-on-public-participation” (SLAPP) laws in his lawsuit. These laws prohibit influential individuals from using legal actions to silence the press, known as “strategic actions against public participation.”

Wolff said filing the lawsuit was a “difficult decision,” adding, “I didn’t want to be involved in a lawsuit, but I’m also a journalist, and have been for 40 years.

I’ve written four books about Donald Trump and have never been sued. The lawsuit Mrs. Trump threatened is what lawyers call a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” or SLAPP. Her goal was to intimidate and silence me, as Donald Trump has done to many media outlets and journalists.

Fortunately, New York State has an anti-SLAPP law. This law protects people sued for statements about matters of public interest. To benefit from this protection, I chose to file the lawsuit against her, rather than let her threats hang over me indefinitely.” »

Wolff is asking the court to stop Melania Trump’s threats, pay her punitive damages, and allow him to question her and her husband under oath about their relationship with Epstein.

As a journalist, I’ve never had the opportunity to ask questions of someone who must answer under oath and in the presence of a court reporter. I look forward to questioning Melania and Donald Trump about the issues at stake in this case, including their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Wolff’s four books about the president include the 2018 bestseller “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” He and Joanna Coles co-host the popular podcast “Inside Trump” for The Daily Beast.

In his complaint, Wolff warns that Trump, his wife, and their “cynical supporters” are attempting to use threats of legal action to “intimidate their critics,” “extort unjustified sums of money,” and obtain “North Korean-style confessions and apologies.”

“These threats of legal action are intended to create a climate of fear in the country, preventing citizens from freely and confidently exercising their First Amendment rights,” the complaint states. “They are also intended to stifle any legitimate investigation into Epstein, which the Trumps and their associates have actively sought to obstruct and suppress.”

The complaint alleges that Melania’s threat of legal action against the author is intended to “impede and prevent the future reporting and writing that Mr. Wolff has committed to provide regarding Epstein, Mr. Trump, and Mrs. Trump.”

“This is, in many respects, the primary purpose of these allegations,” the legal documents state.

Wolff alleges that Melania Trump’s defamation claims against him “lack any substantial legal or factual basis” and “cannot circumvent constitutional protections.”

The complaint adds: “Ms. Trump’s allegations seek to intentionally harass, intimidate, punish, or interfere with Mr. Wolff’s exercise of free speech.”

Trump has repeatedly criticized Wolff, calling him “a third-rate journalist, mocked even by the scourges of fake news.”

Melania’s letter to Wolff refers to an article inspired by her appearance on an episode of “Inside Trump,” titled “Trump’s Epstein Scandal Cannot and Will Not Stop.” The Daily Beast retracted the article, titled “Melania Trump Is Deeply Implicated in the Epstein Scandal: Writer.” The Daily Beast stated that following a complaint from the first lady and further review, “the article did not meet our standards and has therefore been removed from our platforms.”

In response to a letter from the first lady’s lawyer, The Daily Beast also removed an excerpt from an episode of its podcast titled “Trump’s Epstein Scandal Can’t and Won’t Stop,” which mentioned the first lady. She cites her best-selling book “Melania” as the definitive account of her life. We apologize to the first lady and our readers.

In her book, first lady Melania wrote that she met Trump at a Kit Kat club in New York City during Fashion Week in 1998, “drawn by his charismatic energy.” They became engaged six years later and married in 2005.