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The Florida Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board to move forward, rejecting arguments that the case should be delayed until after his presidency.
In a decision released this week, the court declined to review the matter, thereby upholding the lower court’s rulings.
“This cause having heretofore been submitted to the Court on jurisdictional briefs and portions of the record deemed necessary to reflect jurisdiction under Article V, Section 3(b), Florida Constitution, and the Court having determined that it should decline to accept jurisdiction, it is ordered that the petition for review is denied,” the justices wrote. “No motion for rehearing will be entertained by the Court.”
Attorneys for the Pulitzer Board had urged the justices to postpone the proceedings, citing potential constitutional conflicts if a state court were to exercise authority over the sitting president. The lawsuit was filed in Florida, where Trump and one of the board’s members reside.
Trump secured a legal win in May in his defamation case against the Pulitzer Prize Board, as a Florida appeals court ruled against the board’s request to halt the proceedings during Trump’s presidency.
The president took to his Truth Social account to declare victory following the ruling.
“BREAKING! In a major WIN in our powerful lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board regarding the illegal and defamatory ‘Award’ of their once highly respected ‘Prize,’ to fake, malicious stories on the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, by the Failing New York Times and the Washington Compost, the Florida Appellate Court viciously rejected the Defendants’ corrupt attempt to halt the case,” Trump wrote.
“They won a Pulitzer Prize for totally incorrect reporting about the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax. Now they admit it was a SCAM, never happened, and their reporting was totally wrong, in fact, the exact opposite of the TRUTH. They’ll have to give back their ‘Award.’ They were awarded for false reporting, and we can’t let that happen in the United States of America. We are holding the Fake News Media responsible for their LIES to the American People, so we can, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.
Trump sued the board after it awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting to The New York Times and The Washington Post for coverage of alleged ties between his campaign and Russia. His attorneys maintain the reporting was false and defamatory, while the board’s lawyers argue that postponing the case would have prevented clashes between state courts and presidential authority.