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Washington: US President Donald Trump’s lawyers are seeking an urgent deposition from Rupert Murdoch in the president’s Jeffrey Epstein-related defamation case against News Corp due to the media mogul’s advanced age.
A motion filed in court notes Murdoch is 94, has suffered several health setbacks and lives more than 100 miles from the Florida court where the defamation suit has been lodged, making it likely he would be “unavailable for in-person testimony at trial”.
Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal has been targeted by Donald Trump over an article about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.Credit: AP
Murdoch should provide the deposition within 15 days, Trump’s lawyers argue.
Trump is suing Murdoch, News Corp, chief executive Robert Thomson and two reporters from The Wall Street Journal over a July 18 story that claimed he signed a birthday letter and drawing for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Trump denies writing the letter or drawing the picture.
Epstein pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution in a 2008 plea deal and died awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019. The president was friends with Epstein in the 1990s but says the two fell out in the 2000s, and denies any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
In the motion filed on Tuesday (AEST), Trump’s lawyers say the president spoke directly with Murdoch after being approached by one of the Journal’s reporters about the story before publication.
Rupert Murdoch visited Donald Trump in the Oval Office in February, where he attended the signing of an executive order.Credit: AP
According to the filing, Trump told Murdoch the letter was “fake”, and Murdoch advised the president that “he would take care of it” – but the paper published the story.
The filing says Trump was left with the impression that Murdoch – who is now chairman emeritus of News Corp, but not an executive - would contact people at the newspaper.
Murdoch is “widely known for having a hands-on approach over editorial decisions related to News Corp’s periodicals”, it says.
It goes on to say that Murdoch’s direct involvement “further underscores [the] defendants’ actual malice and intent behind the decision to publish the false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements about President Trump”.
The lawyers also note Murdoch’s age and reported health issues. They cite a story by the UK Telegraph that reported he collapsed during a breakfast with News UK chief executive Rebekah Brooks in London in 2023 – among other recent ailments.
“Murdoch’s age and health warrant conducting his deposition on an expedited basis,” the lawyers argue. “[He] recently turned 94 years old and has suffered, but thankfully overcome, multiple health issues throughout his life.
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“Moreover, upon information and belief, Murdoch resides in New York, New York, which is well over 100 miles from this district. Thus, it is presumable, both because of his age and health and/or his distance from this court, that Murdoch will be unavailable for trial.”
Dow Jones, the News Corp subsidiary that publishes the Journal, was contacted for comment. The company has previously said it has full confidence in the rigour and accuracy of the story and will vigorously defend any lawsuit.
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