Who is Michael Wolff? Journalist sues Melania Trump after $1B threat over Epstein comments

Wolff, who is the co-host of The Daily Beast’s Inside Trump’s Head podcast, used what are called Anti-SLAPP laws to file a case against the First Lady on Tuesday in a New York State court. This will be the first lawsuit against Melania Trump and seems like the first instance of a First Lady being sued, The Daily Beast reported.

The dispute between Michael Wolff and Melania Trump

The face-off between the two individuals started from comments Wolff made about Melania Trump’s involvement with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. In one of those statements, Wolff claimed that Epstein boasted about Melania Trump first engaging in sex with the current President on his private jet.

The First Lady’s legal team sent a notice to Wolff that he would be sued in a defamation case for damages worth $1 billion if he did not retract these contentious statements, The Daily Beast wrote.

Alejandro Brito, Melania Trump’s attorney, sent the letter to Wolff describing his words as “false, defamatory and lewd statements” and demanding an immediate retraction. However, New York has what are called Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) laws, which are specifically meant to prevent powerful entities from using laws to prevent journalists from publishing their stories, as per The Daily Beast.

Michael Wolff’s response to threats from Melania Trump

Wolff has struck of pose of defiance so far. As per The Wrap, the acclaimed journalist, who has written four books on President Donald Trump, said:

“Mrs. Trump and her ‘unitary executive’ husband, along with their MAGA myrmidons, have made a practice of threatening those who speak against them with costly SLAPP actions in order to silence their speech, to intimidate their critics generally and to extract unjustified payments and North Korea-style confession and apologies.”

Wolff’s legal representative also revealed that through this lawsuit, his client seeks to ask the First Lady about her husband’s links to the late convicted paedophile. The journalist is also considering writing a book on the matter.

Also read: US Supreme Court rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of conviction in Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case

The Daily Beast’s retracted article

Even before this case came to light, there had been some major activity at The Daily Beast. The online publication retracted an article published in July this year in which Michael Wolff was quoted as saying that it was through Epstein that Melania first met Donald Trump.

As per The Wrap, after Melania Trump’s lawyers contacted The Daily Beast, the article was deleted, and later, even parts of the episode of his podcast where Wolff made those comments were removed.

“The Beast has taken down the article and apologizes for any confusion or misunderstanding,” the website had said at the time. However, with Wolff standing by his claims and Melania threatening to go to court, the matter has escalated to an unprecedented level.

FAQs:

1. Who filed the lawsuit against Melania Trump?

The lawsuit is filed by journalist and author Michael Wolff.

2. What are anti-SLAPP laws?

SLAPP stands for “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation” and connotes lawsuits being filed by influential and powerful people to stop journalists from publishing their work on them.

3. In which state has the lawsuit been filed?

The anti-SLAPP laws exist in New York, and the case is filed in that state.