ARTICLE AD BOX
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a gathering with Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe successful the Oval Office astatine the White House successful Washington D.C., June 27, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
A national justice connected Friday dealt different stroke to President Donald Trump's efforts to propulsion retired a defamation suit against him filed by plaintiffs formerly known arsenic the Central Park Five.
U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone said that Pennsylvania's Anti-SLAPP law, designed to support defendants from lawsuits targeting protected speech, does not use successful national court, rejecting Trump's question to disregard the case.
"The lone contented earlier the Court is whether Plaintiffs' claims for defamation, mendacious light, and intentional infliction of affectional distress ("IIED") tin past fixed Pennsylvania's Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, different known arsenic its Anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Statute," Beetlestone wrote successful a 13-page filing.
"Pennsylvania's Anti-SLAPP Statute (a authorities law) does not use here, successful national court," she wrote successful the filing, adding: "Accordingly, Defendant's Motion shall beryllium denied."
Read much CNBC authorities coverage
Five men who arsenic teenagers were wrongfully convicted successful the so-called Central Park Five jogger rape lawsuit sued Trump successful October, accusing the then-Republican statesmanlike nominee of defaming them.
They cited a fig of statements Trump made during his Sept. 10 statesmanlike debate against erstwhile Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing him of falsely stating that the men killed idiosyncratic and pled blameworthy to the crime.
"These statements are demonstrably false," they wrote successful their filing against Trump.
The 5 men — Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray and Korey Wise — spent years successful situation for the rape and battle of a achromatic pistillate jogger, a transgression they were aboriginal exonerated of and did not commit.
Trump has tried to disregard the defamation suit against him, but has not been successful.
Judge Beetlestone successful April besides threw retired Trump's question to disregard the lawsuit against him successful a antithetic filing.
English (US) ·