Judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday book

A US judge has thrown out President Donald Trump's $10bn (£7.4bn) lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, ruling the suit was "grasping at straws".

Trump had sued the media outlet's parent company Dow Jones and its leader Rupert Murdoch last year after it reported on a letter allegedly written by Trump to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as part of a birthday book in 2003, before Epstein was charged with sex crimes.

Trump has denied writing or signing the letter, which included suggestive language and a drawing of the outline of a woman's body.

Judge Darrin Gayles threw out the case, finding the suit runs counter to the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press.

Gayles had already once dismissed the defamation lawsuit, which sought $20 billion in damages. Trump's team refiled the suit seeking $10 billion, and this time, the judge threw out the case "with prejudice," meaning the suit cannot be filed again.

The news outlet's story about Epstein's 50th birthday book, external - and the letter with Trump's name - came as the Trump administration battled intense bipartisan criticism over the summer for its handling of Epstein documents.

Trump had said the newspaper had slandered him and violated libel laws in publishing the article.

In his 20-page ruling, Gayles noted the paper's "thoughtful and detailed ​investigation" that led to the story and said the lawsuit was "grasping at ‌straws" to "manufacture flaws" in their work.