A federal judge dismissed author Michael Wolff's lawsuit against Melania Trump, opening the door for a major state-level defamation battle.
NEW YORK— A federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed author and journalist Michael Wolff’s preemptive legal action against First Lady Melania Trump, declining to resolve the high-profile defamation dispute inside the federal court system and ruling that the matter belongs in state court.
U.S.District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the Southern District of New York characterized the procedural posture of the case as “contorted,” sharply admonishing the tactical maneuvering that brought the clash before the federal bench. While recognizing that a genuine legal controversy exists between the parties,Judge Vyskocil made clear that she would not preside over a dispute framed through an inappropriate use of federal declaratory judgment mechanisms.