Iowa judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against newspaper and pollster
An Iowa district judge dismissed President Donald Trump's lawsuit against The Des Moines Register and pollster J Ann Selzer on Wednesday.
Judge rejects consumer fraud claim
Scott J Beattie ruled that the president's argument stretched Iowa law beyond its current bounds. The judge stated that Trump's suit turned speech with high First Amendment protection into a liability. He concluded that the constitutional protections involved are too great to allow the case to proceed.
Arguments about free speech impact
The court noted that accepting the claim could discourage others from reporting on public affairs. Trump and his team have filed similar lawsuits against media organizations accusing them of bias. Some of those previous lawsuits ended in settlements rather than dismissal.
Timing relative to other rulings
This decision came hours after a separate judge heard arguments regarding Trump's ban on news outlets at the White House. The ruling addressed coverage of polling numbers published days before the 2024 general elections. Both the newspaper and the pollster described the lawsuit as an affront to free speech protections.
All 2 outlets report consistently
No differences in figures, names or dates across these reports.
- The Guardian
- The Hill
Reported by
2 independent outlets. Headlines as published. Links open the original report.