An Exclusive Interview with Michael Wolff Just Hours After He Files A Preemptive Lawsuit Against Melania Trump Regarding the Epstein Scandal
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Sometimes you’re the windshield, and sometimes you’re the bug.
Sometimes you’re Melania Trump, trying to stop journalists and the First Amendment by sending a phony, framed-up demand letter to an intrepid reporter. And sometimes, you’re that reporter, Michael Wolff, standing courageously for yourself, for the press, and for democracy itself.
This week, Melania Trump, through Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer Alejandro Brito, sent a threatening letter to journalist Michael Wolff, the author of Fire and Fury and Siege, among other bestsellers. The letter threatened him with a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit over reporting that connected the former First Lady to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
But before Melania’s lawyers could even file their case, Michael Wolff beat them to the punch. He filed a preemptive, anticipatory lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court, seeking a declaration that he has done nothing wrong and that his reporting is protected by the First Amendment.
As I promised on Legal AF, we do not just cover the stories. We bring you the newsmakers. We bring you the people in the courtroom. The people who use the courts with courage. That is why I was so honored to have Michael Wolff join me, just hours after he filed his lawsuit, for an exclusive interview on the Legal AF YouTube channel alongside historian Sidney Blumenthal.
We talked about why Wolff had to file this suit. Why he is not afraid. Why he knew he had no choice but to stand up and fight.
Because make no mistake, they left him no other choice.
The Letter Behind the Threat
It is dated October 15 and signed by Alejandro Brito, the same lawyer Donald Trump has used to sue virtually everyone who has ever crossed him. The letter is a formal “demand to retract false, defamatory, and lewd statements about the First Lady.”
Here’s the essence of it:
“Dear Mr. Wolff,
Our law firm serves as litigation counsel for the First Lady of the United States. We demand that you immediately retract and apologize for the false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements made about Mrs. Trump, which were published by The Daily Beast in an article titled ‘Melania Trump Very Involved in Epstein Scandal, Author Says.’”
Now, let’s stop right there.
The article in question was written and published by The Daily Beast, not Michael Wolff. Did they get every detail right? I cannot say. But what I can say, and what you can hear for yourself in Wolff’s appearance on Court of History and Legal AF, is that he simply reported what he heard on tape.
The so-called “defamatory statements” quoted in the letter included passages like this:
“The First Lady, Melania Trump, could be the missing link in President Trump’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She was very involved in Epstein’s social circle.”
And another:
“Explosive tapes recorded by Wolff capture Epstein alleging that Trump liked to sleep with his friends’ wives and first slept with Melania on his Lolita Express.”
Those are not Wolff’s words or opinions. They are Epstein’s words, captured in recordings Wolff obtained and accurately reported. That is what journalists do.
So how could that possibly be defamatory? It is not. Wolff’s lawsuit says so clearly and methodically, line by line. The suit reproduces Brito’s letter in full and responds point by point, explaining why each statement is protected, truthful, or opinion, and why this demand letter was nothing more than a blatant attempt to intimidate a reporter.
Standing Up for the First Amendment
This is what courage looks like.
Wolff did not wait to be attacked. He went to court first. He is standing up not just for himself, but for every journalist who has ever been threatened by powerful people who want to silence the truth.
And here at Legal AF, we are going to stand with him.
Wolff told me directly in our interview that he will likely face a counter-suit from Melania Trump’s legal team and that he will need crowdfunding to cover his legal defense. And I told him this: we are going to support you, and we are going to keep covering this fight every step of the way.
This is exactly why Legal AF exists: to protect democracy, the rule of law, and the free press.
Read the Michael Wolff lawsuit and demand letter to Michael Wolff for yourself below:
How You Can Help
If you believe in this kind of reporting, fearless, fact-based, and rooted in the Constitution, then I need your help.
Subscribe to Legal AF on Substack. Become a paid member for just $6.77 a month. Every subscription is a vote to protect the First Amendment, to defend freedom of the press, and to ensure we can keep bringing you real-time legal and political reporting from the front lines.
You can also join us on the Legal AF YouTube channel, where you will find my full interview with Michael Wolff and Sidney Blumenthal on this breaking story.
We will continue to bring you the newsmakers, the lawsuits, and the legal analysis you cannot find anywhere else.
Until then, stay strong. Protect the First Amendment. Defend the free press.
Michael Popok.
 | A guest post by
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No matter how hard Melania tries, she will may never wash the stench of Trump and Epstein off her. She is not a Jackie O. or a Michelle Obama. I can’t really see anything she has contributed to the country and doesn’t even live at the WH. Based on all her merch for sale, looks like she’s just another grifter. I’m waiting for the discovery process. I hope she proves me wrong.
Right on, Michael! Thank you for NOT BENDING THE KNEE! We definitely will support you any way we can for STANDING STRONG and having a backbone for the American people!!