U.S. News

Melania Trump Files Defamation Suit Against Daily Mail, Political Blog

By Daniella Silva

Sept. 1, 2016, 9:33 PM EDT / Updated Sept. 2, 2016, 8:48 AM EDT

Melania Trump filed a lawsuit against the Daily Mail and a Maryland political blogger on Thursday for publishing "false and tremendously damaging" statements claiming the would-be first lady previously worked as an "escort," according to court documents and her lawyer.

Trump sued Mail Media, Inc. which publishes the Daily Mail, as well as Webster Griffin Tarpley, who runs the blog Tarpley.net, in a lawsuit filed in the state circuit court of Montgomery County, Maryland.

"These defendants made several statements about Mrs. Trump that are 100% false and tremendously damaging to her personal and professional reputation," lawyer Charles Harder said in a statement. "Their many lies include, among others, that Mrs. Trump supposedly was an 'escort' in the 1990s before she met her husband."

Harder famously represented Hulk Hogan in his lawsuit against Gawker Media, which eventually led to the site shutting down.

The lawsuit cites an article on Tarpley.net that alleged that Melania Trump worked as a "high-end escort" and suffered from a "full-blown nervous breakdown" after the Republican convention, as well as an article published on the Daily Mail website referencing similar claims.

The suit says Trump is going after both publications for "in excess of $75,000" but Harder said in his statement that the "Defendants' actions are so egregious, malicious and harmful to Mrs. Trump that her damages are estimated at $150 million dollars."