Melania Trump is being dragged into a legal battle with journalist Michael Wolff who has filed a lawsuit accusing the First Lady of trying to block publication of his upcoming tell-all about her life, TMZ reports.
According to new court documents, obtained by TMZ, Wolff says Melania Trump “deliberately and maliciously” interfered with his publishing contract and defamed him in public statements tied to his forthcoming book, “The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump (Redux).”
Wolff also says Melania Trump and her team delivered false and damaging claims he fabricated interviews, intimidated sources, and “manufactured lies for profit,” scaring off international distributors that caused him to lose a multi million dollar book deal.
The author goes on to say he has evidence Melania personally instructed a public relations firm to contact media outlets and threaten legal action if they covered his book project — something Wolff calls “a calculated campaign to destroy his reputation and livelihood.”
As part of his lawsuit, Wolff included a letter from Melania’s lawyers demanding he retract and apologize for defamatory statements he made to the Daily Beast about her alleged connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in an article.
Wolff told the Daily Beast Melania was “very involved” in the Epstein scandal and could be the missing link in President Trump’s ties to Epstein, among other things. Melania’s attorneys says that’s all BS.
Now, Wolff is asking the judge for declarations that the assertions in his book are not defamatory and if Melania continues to try to harass, intimidate and block him from publishing the book she would be libel to him for damages.