Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Judge Warns Melania Trump’s Lawyers Over Sanctions Push Against Michael Wolff (7/6/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:03Epstein Chronicles. The legal battle between Michael wolf and Milania
- 0:08Trump is still cracking off, and Malania Trump is hoping
- 0:13that she's going to be able to sanction not only
- 0:17Michael Wolf but his lawyers, and all of this has
- 0:21to do with the comments and what Michael Wolfe has
- 0:24said about Milania Trump and her ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Now,
- 0:29of course, they have this lawsuit that has been going
- 0:33on that was recently dismissed, and it was an anti
- 0:37slap lawsuit that was filed by Michael Wolf. Well, Malania
- 0:41Trump and her team they want to sanction them now,
- 0:44and they say that the lawsuit never should have been filed.
- 0:49But it looks like the judge has thrown some cold
- 0:51water on that attempt, telling Milania Trump basically, why don't
- 0:57you just quit while you're ahead, That it's not going
- 1:01to turn out the way you think it's gonna turn
- 1:02out if you try and pursue this. That's basically what
- 1:06the judge said. But knowing the Trumps, they're gonna keep
- 1:10it going. So today we have an article from Courthouse
- 1:14News Service and the headline judge cautions Malania Trump against
- 1:18trying to sanction journalist Michael Wolfe. The author of this
- 1:22article is Eric you Blocker. Despite already beating an anti
- 1:28slab lawsuit from journalists and Trump biographer Michael Wolfe, First
- 1:32Lady Malania Trump is keeping the litigation going by pushing
- 1:36for sanctions against wolf over what she calls his frivolous case. Look,
- 1:42that's how the court systems set up, right. If you
- 1:45feel like larwyors have went too far, or they've done
- 1:48something that's out of bounds, you try to get them sanctioned.
- 1:51But I don't think she has any kind of tenable
- 1:54ground to stand on here. And believe me, I'm no
- 1:56fan of Michael wolf as you know. I think he's
- 1:59part of the problem. People like him gatekeepers, people that
- 2:02have had information and they refuse to give it up,
- 2:04people who try to benefit from all of this. Yeah,
- 2:08he's certainly one of them. But that doesn't mean that
- 2:12the First Lady of the United States should be trying
- 2:14to sanction him and his lawyers for bringing this suit.
- 2:17I don't think it's a sanctionable offense. But a federal
- 2:22judge on Wednesday suggested she should perhaps quit while she's ahead,
- 2:27noting to the first lady's lawyers, the case is now closed.
- 2:30She got the victory. But they want to put their
- 2:34foot on the proverbial throat, right. They want it to
- 2:38be so cumbersome, they want it to be so brutal
- 2:42that nobody says a thing about Milania Trump and Jeffrey
- 2:45Epstein ever again. And from their perspective, you could see that,
- 2:50right why they'd want to do that. But I don't
- 2:53think the optics are good, and I don't think it's
- 2:56going to end up the way they think it's going
- 2:57to end up. When all said and done, I wonder
- 3:02if it's in the interest of the parties to continue
- 3:04litigating in this court, said US District Judge Mary Kay Viscasil,
- 3:09basically saying, look, if you want to pursue this, I
- 3:12don't think it's going to end up where you think
- 3:13it's going to end up, take your w and keep
- 3:16it moving. In May, Viscasil, a Donald Trump appointee in
- 3:21the Southern District of New York, issued a scathing order
- 3:24that dismissed Wolfe's lawsuit against Milagna Trump. The judge accused
- 3:29wolf of engaging in an inappropriate level of tactical gamesmanship
- 3:34in filing the preemptive anti slap lawsuit. And there is
- 3:38so much going on behind the scenes when it comes
- 3:40to these lawsuits with rich people that it'll make your
- 3:43head spin. The amount of money that's spent on lawyers
- 3:48is absurd, and Michael Wolfe had to know that before
- 3:51even engaging in this. But you have to keep in mind,
- 3:54for somebody like Michael Wolfe, all this publicity, whether negative
- 3:59or positive, good right. And there's a section of people
- 4:03out there that just believe anything he says because it
- 4:06fits their bias. Me personally, I don't believe Michael wolf
- 4:11I think he's just another manipulator and another person that
- 4:15is telling half truth. Wolf who has written four books
- 4:21about President Donald Trump since he first took office, filed
- 4:24the claim in twenty twenty five after receiving a letter
- 4:27from the First Lady's lawyer threatening a billion dollar defamation claim.
- 4:31Wolfe said that this was retaliation for him publicly commenting
- 4:35that Milania Trump was friends with Jeffrey Epstein and was
- 4:39playing an active role in the administration's handling of the
- 4:42Epstein files. Now, I don't believe that, to tell you
- 4:45the truth, an active role. What's Milania Trump sitting in
- 4:48the Justice Department going through files. I don't believe that,
- 4:52And frankly, I think the allegations made towards Malania Trump
- 4:57need to have some more substance to them. Basically, what
- 5:01we have to go on here is what Amanda Angaro
- 5:04is saying and what Michael Wolfe is saying. And now
- 5:06I'm not saying that they're not telling the truth, but
- 5:09we need more evidence. Whenever we have something that's fraught
- 5:12with political landmines, there needs to be an overabundance of
- 5:15evidence because without it, forget it, you're never going to
- 5:19convince anyone. Vis Casill ultimately found Wolf lack the standing
- 5:27the file an anti slab claim since Malania Trump had
- 5:30not been and still has not sued him for defamation,
- 5:33Wolf is appealing to the ruling. So look, Wolf got preemptive,
- 5:38he attempted to get out ahead of this, and he
- 5:41still hasn't even been sued for defamation. So while I
- 5:45don't find it sanctionable, I do find it scummy, but
- 5:51we shouldn't be shocked considering it's Michael wolf that's doing this.
- 5:58But the First Lady's lawyers wrote to the court in
- 6:00June that they intended to sanction wolf for his factual misrepresentations,
- 6:05frivolous legal arguments, and bad faith conduct. Plaintiff's misconduct and
- 6:10that of his counsel warrent sanctions. They wrote, the sanctions
- 6:14would be sufficient to deter repetition and compensate Miss Trump
- 6:17for the cost imposed by their misconduct. The first line
- 6:21is what's important. The sanctions should be sufficient to deter repetition.
- 6:27That's what they're looking to do. Keep in mind, they
- 6:30don't want copycats. They want to make this so painful
- 6:33and expensive for Michael Wolfe. Then nobody comes up with
- 6:36this idea again, and nobody even attempts to bring this up.
- 6:42Plaintiff's misconduct and that of his council warrnt sanctions. They wrote.
- 6:46The sanctions should be sufficient to deter repetition and to
- 6:50compensate Miss Trump for the cost imposed by their misconduct.
- 6:54The parties met in Viscosol's courtroom on Wednesday. While the
- 6:57judge sided strongly with Milania Trump in her order to
- 7:01dismiss the lawsuit, she wondered aloud whether the first Lady
- 7:04would have the same success with emotion for sanctions and
- 7:08I don't think she would. I don't think there's enough here. Remember,
- 7:12it's a very high bar to have a lawyer sanctioned,
- 7:15and I just don't think this crosses that plain. Viscasle said,
- 7:21Milania Trump would have to prove that there is clear
- 7:24evidence wolf brought the lawsuit baselessly and in bad faith.
- 7:27By her own observation, the standard for succeeding with such
- 7:30emotion places a very high burden on the moving party. Yes,
- 7:34it does. How many times have we went through this?
- 7:37How many different lawyers have been threatened with sanctions? Look
- 7:41at Donald Blackburn over with Diddy. I mean that guy
- 7:45is playing all kinds of crazy games. He was threatened
- 7:49with sanctions how many times? And he didn't get hit
- 7:52with any. So if what he's doing is insanctionable, then
- 7:56I don't think what's going on with Michael Wolfe's lawyers
- 7:59is either. And with Milania Trump already victorious, the judge
- 8:04pondered whether this would be the best use of resources
- 8:07for both the parties and the court. I think sometimes
- 8:10people get so caught up in the fervor of the
- 8:12moment that they don't really stop to think about the
- 8:15cost benefit analysis. Motions that are contemplated and the burden
- 8:19you put a cord to Viscasol said. However, the judge added,
- 8:23she also cannot stop a party from filing a motion
- 8:26that it believes, in good faith is warranted, except in
- 8:30very rare circumstances that aren't present in this case, So
- 8:34basically saying that she can file it, but she doesn't
- 8:37think it's going to end up the way that Milania
- 8:39wants it to end up. And I think that there's
- 8:41a lot of validity to that statement for all the
- 8:44reasons we just discussed. Milania Trump's lawyers indicated they intend
- 8:50to move forward with the motion for sanctions and will
- 8:53file it by July twentieth. Wilsnow the Funk complaint was
- 8:57based on New York's anti slap Statute short first Strategic
- 9:01Lawsuits against public Participation, which is designed to block leole
- 9:05action intended to chill free speech. In the lawsuit, he
- 9:08accused the Trump family of creating a climate of fear
- 9:12in the nation so that people cannot freely or confidently
- 9:15exercise their First Amendment rights. Well, there is some truth
- 9:18to that. I mean, let's be very clear, not exactly
- 9:23the most favorable circumstances for people that are trying to
- 9:28cover this story. He defended several of his public statements
- 9:32about the Trumps, including the claim that Donald Trump liked
- 9:35to have sex with his friend's wives and that he
- 9:37first slept with Malania Trump on Epstein's private jet. Wolfe
- 9:41also stood by his claim that Milania Trump plays no
- 9:44small part in the Epstein story, though he also noted
- 9:48in his lawsuit he never said Milania Trump was involved
- 9:51in any of Epstein's crimes, So what's her part? Then?
- 9:55What did she do? And this is where they lose me.
- 10:00Now you can say that she was associated with Epstein,
- 10:02friends with him, maybe you know, went to his parties, whatever,
- 10:06But I think that's where it ends as far as
- 10:08Malania Trump goes. The Epstein issue has been a thorn
- 10:13in the side of the First family since Donald Trump
- 10:15reclaimed the White House at the end of twenty twenty four,
- 10:18renewing nationwide interest in his reportedly close relationship with the
- 10:22infamous sex offender. Malania Trump has tried to distance herself
- 10:26from the scandal. In April, she released a recorded statement
- 10:31distancing herself from epstein sex trafficking, stating that the lies
- 10:35linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.
- 10:40So look, I'm not going to sit here and tell
- 10:41you I know exactly what Malania Trump was up to.
- 10:44I do own, but what I can tell you is
- 10:47I don't put too much credence in what Michael Wilf
- 10:49has to say. So we'll have to wait to see
- 10:52if this progresses as far as a lawsuit if we
- 10:55had discovery, but I don't think we're gonna get there.
- 10:58If this has been thrown out one, I highly doubt
- 11:01it's going to get refiled, so we might have a
- 11:04different lawsuit between these two. But this one, in my opinion,
- 11:07for all intents and purposes, has been put to bed,
- 11:11and I don't think that Milania Trump and her legal
- 11:13team is going to end up pursuing those sanctions. But
- 11:17we'll keep an eye on it like everything else, and
- 11:19when we have some more information one way or the other,
- 11:22we'll get that added to the catalog as well. All
- 11:25the information that goes with this episode can be found
- 11:28in the description box.