{"id":133631,"date":"2025-09-19T16:55:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T00:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/19\/trump-complaint-against-nyt-gets-benchslapped-into-oblivion\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T16:55:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T00:55:58","slug":"trump-complaint-against-nyt-gets-benchslapped-into-oblivion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/19\/trump-complaint-against-nyt-gets-benchslapped-into-oblivion\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Complaint Against NYT Gets Benchslapped Into Oblivion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The president suffered a minor setback this morning in his defamation suit against the New York Times. Judge Steven Merryday struck<\/a> the entire complaint for standing \u201cunmistakably and inexcusably athwart the requirements of Rule 8.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ooopsie! <\/em><\/p>\n

And all Trump\u2019s friends said it was going so great!<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite filing this suit in \u201cthe Great State of Florida,\u201d specifically the Tampa Division of the Middle District \u2014 not<\/em> the Southern District where he lives \u2014 the president did not manage to land on the docket of one of his own appointees. Instead he got Judge Merryday, who\u2019s been on the bench since 1992 and very much does not have time for your shit<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The court was deeply unimpressed with the 85-page screed<\/a> praising the Dear Leader\u2019s \u201cdecades of magnificent real estate achievements,\u201d \u201csui generis charisma and unique business acumen,\u201d \u201ctranscendent ability to defy wrongful conventions,\u201d and his \u201cone-of-a-kind, unprecedented personal brand alone [which] is reasonably estimated to be worth over $100,000,000,000.\u201d Apparently the judge wasn\u2019t interested in hearing about Donald Trump\u2019s 1990s cameos on Wrestlemania V, All My Children, and The Nanny.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs every member of the bar of every federal court knows (or is presumed to know), Rule 8(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, requires that a complaint include \u2018a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,\u2019\u201d Judge Merryday begins, noting that the plaintiff spends 79 of those pages detailing \u201cmany, often repetitive, and laudatory (toward President Trump) but superfluous allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective \u2014 not a protected platform to rage against an adversary,\u201d he continues<\/p>\n

Presumably these lawyers feel the sting of humiliation at being treated like wild-eyed, pro se, SovCits lecturing the court on the illegality of the federal income tax. Or perhaps not.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Local counsel Alejandro Brito, a commercial lawyer from Coral Gables, probably burned off his capacity for shame when he argued<\/a> that CNN defamed Trump by using the phrase \u201cBig Lie.\u201d Brito did, however, manage to negotiate Trump\u2019s settlement with ABC, and he\u2019s currently spearheading the suit against the Wall Street Journal for saying Trump drew boobs<\/a> two decades ago for Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

Brito\u2019s co-counsel Edward Paltzik filed the complaint against CBS in Texas that led to a $16 million gift to Trump\u2019s presidential library, after which the FCC approved CBS parent company Paramount\u2019s merger with Skydance. Paltzik has failed to replicate that success in Iowa, however, where he is currently pratfalling<\/a> all over three separate dockets \u2014 one state, two federal \u2014 in a SLAPP suit against the Des Moines Register. Rounding out the dream team is MAGA goober Daniel Epstein, who once promised<\/a> to sue the US government over the raid on Mar-a-Lago, demanding $100,000,000 for \u201cintrusion upon seclusion.\u201d That suit was never filed, but Epstein really did sue<\/a> Chief Justice Roberts on the theory that the judiciary is part of the executive branch and thus subject to FOIA.<\/p>\n

Safe bet that these guys don\u2019t embarrass easy! <\/p>\n

Judge Merryday struck the complaint and gave the plaintiff 28 days to amend. He also limited the filing to \u201cforty pages, excluding only the caption, the signature, and any attachment,\u201d admonishing counsel that \u201cAlthough lawyers receive a modicum of expressive latitude in pleading the claim of a client, the complaint in this action extends far beyond the outer bound of that latitude.\u201d So if Trump wants to pursue this case, Brito, Paltzik, and Epstein are going to have to axe about 40 pages of Baghdad Bob-level sycophancy. <\/p>\n

How can the president make his case without including the 2024 electoral map and his appearance on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air in 1994?<\/p>\n

Lawyering is hard, y\u2019all.<\/p>\n

The post Trump Complaint Against NYT Gets Benchslapped Into Oblivion<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The president suffered a minor setback this morning in his defamation suit against the New York Times. Judge Steven Merryday struck<\/a> the entire complaint for standing \u201cunmistakably and inexcusably athwart the requirements of Rule 8.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ooopsie! <\/em><\/p>\n

And all Trump\u2019s friends said it was going so great!<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite filing this suit in \u201cthe Great State of Florida,\u201d specifically the Tampa Division of the Middle District \u2014 not<\/em> the Southern District where he lives \u2014 the president did not manage to land on the docket of one of his own appointees. Instead he got Judge Merryday, who\u2019s been on the bench since 1992 and very much does not have time for your shit<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The court was deeply unimpressed with the 85-page screed<\/a> praising the Dear Leader\u2019s \u201cdecades of magnificent real estate achievements,\u201d \u201csui generis charisma and unique business acumen,\u201d \u201ctranscendent ability to defy wrongful conventions,\u201d and his \u201cone-of-a-kind, unprecedented personal brand alone [which] is reasonably estimated to be worth over $100,000,000,000.\u201d Apparently the judge wasn\u2019t interested in hearing about Donald Trump\u2019s 1990s cameos on Wrestlemania V, All My Children, and The Nanny.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs every member of the bar of every federal court knows (or is presumed to know), Rule 8(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, requires that a complaint include \u2018a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,\u2019\u201d Judge Merryday begins, noting that the plaintiff spends 79 of those pages detailing \u201cmany, often repetitive, and laudatory (toward President Trump) but superfluous allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective \u2014 not a protected platform to rage against an adversary,\u201d he continues<\/p>\n

Presumably these lawyers feel the sting of humiliation at being treated like wild-eyed, pro se, SovCits lecturing the court on the illegality of the federal income tax. Or perhaps not.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Local counsel Alejandro Brito, a commercial lawyer from Coral Gables, probably burned off his capacity for shame when he argued<\/a> that CNN defamed Trump by using the phrase \u201cBig Lie.\u201d Brito did, however, manage to negotiate Trump\u2019s settlement with ABC, and he\u2019s currently spearheading the suit against the Wall Street Journal for saying Trump drew boobs<\/a> two decades ago for Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

Brito\u2019s co-counsel Edward Paltzik filed the complaint against CBS in Texas that led to a $16 million gift to Trump\u2019s presidential library, after which the FCC approved CBS parent company Paramount\u2019s merger with Skydance. Paltzik has failed to replicate that success in Iowa, however, where he is currently pratfalling<\/a> all over three separate dockets \u2014 one state, two federal \u2014 in a SLAPP suit against the Des Moines Register. Rounding out the dream team is MAGA goober Daniel Epstein, who once promised<\/a> to sue the US government over the raid on Mar-a-Lago, demanding $100,000,000 for \u201cintrusion upon seclusion.\u201d That suit was never filed, but Epstein really did sue<\/a> Chief Justice Roberts on the theory that the judiciary is part of the executive branch and thus subject to FOIA.<\/p>\n

Safe bet that these guys don\u2019t embarrass easy! <\/p>\n

Judge Merryday struck the complaint and gave the plaintiff 28 days to amend. He also limited the filing to \u201cforty pages, excluding only the caption, the signature, and any attachment,\u201d admonishing counsel that \u201cAlthough lawyers receive a modicum of expressive latitude in pleading the claim of a client, the complaint in this action extends far beyond the outer bound of that latitude.\u201d So if Trump wants to pursue this case, Brito, Paltzik, and Epstein are going to have to axe about 40 pages of Baghdad Bob-level sycophancy. <\/p>\n

How can the president make his case without including the 2024 electoral map and his appearance on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air in 1994?<\/p>\n

Lawyering is hard, y\u2019all.<\/p>\n

The post Trump Complaint Against NYT Gets Benchslapped Into Oblivion<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The president suffered a minor setback this morning in his defamation suit against the New York Times. Judge Steven Merryday struck the entire complaint for standing \u201cunmistakably and inexcusably athwart the requirements of Rule 8.\u201d Ooopsie! And all Trump\u2019s friends said it was going so great! Despite filing this suit in \u201cthe Great State of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":133632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-19-at-12.41.56-PM-ta0mID.png?fit=1050%2C432&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}