A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by author Michael Wolff against First Lady Melania Trump, ruling that the case was brought too early and in the wrong way, according to The Guardian.
US District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said Wolff was asking the court to rule in advance that he would win if Melania Trump sued him for defamation. “That is not how the federal courts work,” she said in her decision.
Wolff had filed the case in an attempt to block a possible billion-dollar defamation lawsuit from the first lady over comments he made linking her to Jeffrey Epstein.
In her ruling, Vyskocil said Wolff’s claim under anti-SLAPP laws was “preemptive” and not properly placed before the court. She said while there was a “real dispute” between both sides, it must be handled through the normal legal process.
“The plaintiff asks for a declaration that, if the first lady sues him, he deserves to win,” she wrote, adding that the court would not take up such a request.
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She also criticised Wolff’s legal strategy, saying he tried to gain an advantage by filing the case in New York before Melania Trump could proceed with her own case in Florida. The judge described this as “bad-faith forum shopping”.
“The outcome is simple,” she said. “The court will not be conscripted to oversee an abusively presented spat.”
Wolff filed the lawsuit last year after Melania Trump’s lawyer warned that she would take legal action unless he withdrew his statements, which she said caused “overwhelming reputational and financial harm”.
The judge dismissed the case, saying it should be litigated like any other dispute. A spokesperson for Melania Trump said she would continue to challenge what they called false claims made against her.
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Melania Trump’s response
Melania Trump has denied any connection to Jeffrey Epstein and said she would fight the claims.
“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said in a statement quoted by The Guardian.
“I have never been friends with Epstein,” she added, saying that she and Donald Trump had only been at the same events as him due to overlapping social circles.
