The First Lady rarely opens up. But when she does, it’s huge.
Now Melania Trump shocked everyone with one major announcement.
Melania Trump Seeks Sanctions Against Wolff After His “Meritless” Lawsuit Collapses in Court
First lady Melania Trump filed a motion for sanctions Tuesday against journalist Michael Wolff, seeking to recover costs and attorneys’ fees after a federal judge threw out Wolff’s lawsuit against her earlier this year, calling his legal maneuvering a “contorted” attempt to preempt her defamation claims.
Melania Trump’s Team Says Wolff Used the Courts as a Political Weapon
Wolff had sued Melania Trump last October, seeking a declaratory ruling that his statements about her were not defamatory and that she would be liable for costs and damages if she pursued her own defamation case against him. Wolff originally filed under a New York law barring lawsuits designed to silence critics, known as an anti-SLAPP statute.
Melania Trump’s legal team, led by Caryn Schechtman of DLA Piper and Alejandro Brito, argued in the new filing that sanctions are warranted, saying Wolff’s lawsuit amounted to “a fundraising drive and a political spectacle.”
“Plaintiff filed a patently meritless lawsuit and used it to harass Mrs. Trump in public,” the filing said. “The requested sanctions do not depend on a ruling that Plaintiff’s statements were defamatory.”
Judge Already Blasted Wolff’s Case as “Gamesmanship”
U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee in the Southern District of New York, dismissed Wolff’s suit in May, delivering a scathing rebuke of his legal strategy.
“There are many features of this case that make it complicated: the prominence of the personalities involved, the scandalizing content of the underlying statements, and, frankly, an inappropriate level of tactical gamesmanship,” Vyskocil wrote in her 45-page opinion. “But the outcome is simple.”
“The Court will not be conscripted to oversee an abusively presented spat and so declines to reach the merits here,” she added.
Vyskocil found that Wolff and Melania Trump “have a real dispute,” but ruled that “they must litigate it according to the same procedures as everyone else.”
Dispute Stems From Wolff’s Comments Tying First Lady to Epstein
The underlying conflict traces back to comments Wolff made in a podcast and a Daily Beast article regarding Melania Trump’s alleged role in managing the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, among other remarks. Melania Trump’s lawyer had previously warned Wolff in a letter that she would be “left with no alternative” but to sue him for defamation if he did not retract the statements, which the letter said had caused her “overwhelming reputational and financial harm.”
Wolff, who has written several books about President Trump, had sought to have the case moved to federal court in Florida or dismissed outright before Vyskocil ultimately found he lacked standing to bring the preemptive claim in the first place.
Despite Melania Trump’s win, the judge cautioned this week that the first lady may want to consider whether continuing to litigate is the best use of the court’s time, noting “the case is now closed.” Melania Trump’s team, however, appears determined to see the sanctions motion through to hold Wolff financially accountable for what they characterize as a frivolous legal stunt.
