Overview

• U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday in Florida threw out the 85-page filing for violating Rule 8’s requirement that complaints be short, plain, and direct.
• The order described the complaint as improper and inadmissible and rebuked its rhetorical tone, stating that a complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a rally podium.
• The dismissal was procedural and did not address the substance of the defamation claims.
• Trump’s suit named The New York Times, Penguin Random House, and Times reporters Peter Baker, Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig, and Michael Schmidt over articles and the book Lucky Loser, including reporting on a purported 2003 letter to Jeffrey Epstein.
• The New York Times and Penguin Random House called the case unfounded, while legal experts said the filing lacked specific false-fact allegations necessary for a viable claim by a public figure.