A federal judge on Friday dismissed US President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, arguing that the request is “decidedly improper and impermissible” because it does not follow the rules for filing civil lawsuits.
Middle District of Florida Judge Steven Merryday declared that the lawsuit “unequivocally and inexcusably contradicts” the requirements of the federal rules of civil procedure, emphasizing that the complaint must be a “brief, simple, and straightforward statement of factual allegations.”
Merryday added that Trump’s legal team can refile the lawsuit within one month, but must limit it to a maximum of 40 pages, while the current one was 85 pages. It should not be “a public forum for vituperation and invective” or “a public relations megaphone,” according to CNN.
Earlier in the week, Trump announced a $15 billion (more than €12.7 billion) defamation and slander lawsuit against The New York Times, which he accused of becoming a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party. “They’ve been lying for decades about your favorite president (ME!), my family (…) and our nation as a whole,” he stated at the time.
The White House resident accused the newspaper of making “the largest illegal campaign contribution in history,” highlighting its front-page endorsement of the presidential candidacy of Democrat Kamala Harris, who held the vice presidency in the previous administration, that of Joe Biden.
