A CNN legal analyst has said Donald Trump's lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal may not be in his best interest.
The President filed the suit in a Miami Federal Court against the newspaper, its owner Rupert Murdoch and News Corp after the Journal ran an exclusive alleging Trump sent a "bawdy" letter to Jeffrey Epstein – who was later convicted of child sex crimes – as part of a gift for his 50th birthday in 2003. According to the report, the letter contained a drawing of a nude woman, with Trump's alleged signature positioned beneath her waist, resembling pubic hair.
Trump vehemently denied the story immediately and threatened to sue. After the lawsuit was filed on Friday, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig appeared on The Lead, where Jake Tapper asked him about the possibility that taking legal action might end up "dredging up a lot of stuff Trump doesn't want to talk about anyway."
Elie argued it appears that Trump hasn't "fully thought this one through" because he would need to testify under oath at a deposition during discovery. This would include talking about his relationship with Epstein, Elie said, which is something Trump and his administration have tried to avoid.
He explained, "I'm not so sure Donald Trump has fully thought this one through, Jake, because you showed at the beginning of the show his very recent social media post where he said, 'Oh, I look forward to deposing Rupert Murdoch under oath. That should be fascinating.'
"Well, guess who else is going to have to testify under oath at a deposition. The plaintiff in this case, the person who's suing, Donald John Trump. And the subject of that testimony, which again, will be under oath, will be his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. No holds barred.
"And by filing this lawsuit, he is walking himself right into that scenario. Discovery goes both ways. Plaintiff has to turn stuff over to the defendant and vice versa. So, I have some questions about the legal strategy here."
According to the Journal report, Trump wrote in the letter, "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret." It is also alleged that the President wrote a cryptic message to the late financier, stating, "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey."
On his Truth Social platform on Thursday night, Trump went off, calling the paper a "disgusting and filthy rag." He wrote, "This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story. I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women. It's not my language. It's not my words."
"I'm going to sue the Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else," he continued. "I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!" Trump wrote in another Truth Social post early on Friday.
It comes as the President sparked a civil war among his once-loyal supporters who are refusing to accept his claim that a "client list" of the late paedophile does not exist. The scandal exploded after the Department of Justice declared there would be no further Epstein-related charges.
The decision came just weeks after Elon Musk, once a close ally of the US leader, claimed Trump was named in the Epstein documents. The Journal reports the letter was discovered by US Justice Department investigators probing Epstein's inner circle.
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