Trump vs Murdoch: lawsuit of the century
Donald Trump has asked a federal court to speed up the deposition of Rupert Murdoch in the president's $10bn defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal 's parent company Dow Jones – in case the 94-year-old dies before the case reaches court. In a motion, Trump's lawyers claim that Murdoch 'has suffered from multiple health issues throughout his life' and has 'suffered recent significant health scares'. But Murdoch is not taking it lying down in his bath chair. 'I'm 94 years old and I will not be intimidated,' he told friends.
The WSJ stories alleged Trump sent a 'bawdy' drawing to Jeffrey Epstein for his birthday in 2003, and that the US president was told in May that he features in the Epstein files. The White House denies both claims. Insiders at Murdoch's News UK say there is zero chance of Murdoch backing down. 'He may have his faults, but Murdoch always backs his editors and he has huge admiration for [WSJ editor] Emma Tucker – that's why she was hand-picked from the Sunday Times and sent to the US.'
At least Trump was able to get away from the furore at his Aberdeen golf course, where he could enjoy stunning views up the coast a mere 15 miles to Cruden Bay, the ancestral home of one Rupert Murdoch.
On the subject of News UK, Keir Starmer is bringing in the company's chief operating officer, David Dinsmore, as his 'very own Malcolm Tucker'. Dinsmore, who was the Sun's editor from 2013 to 2015, has been hired into a new role as 'permanent secretary for communications', in which his first task will be to create a strategy for communicating in a digital age, using his contacts at the likes of Meta and Google. His second task will be to get to grips with the government's eye-watering 7,000 comms staff.
Dinsmore's appointment has gone down like a lump of lead on Merseyside, where the Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster remains an open wound. Mayor Steve Rotheram called it a 'deeply insensitive choice'. This comes amid fury that the Hillsborough Law to prevent future state cover-ups is being 'watered down to nothing' by Attorney General Richard Hermer. The Liverpool-born Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, who has campaigned tirelessly for the law, is oddly silent about Starmer's new appointment. In the 2015 leadership election Burnham refused to be interviewed by the Sun, then edited by Dinsmore, which led to the retaliatory headline: 'Is two-faced Burnham the most hypocritical politician in Britain?' Still, it's a topic unlikely to come up at Labour's party conference… in Liverpool.
Sacked sleazeball Gregg Wallace sat down for an interview with the Sun, in which he bemoaned being bracketed with the likes of Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards. 'I'm not a groper,' he wailed, while also lending support to his former MasterChef colleague John Torode, saying: 'He's not a racist.' Wallace's loyalty is not being reciprocated by at least one source close to Torode; they grumbled: 'Why doesn't he just shut his mouth? This isn't helping anyone.'
Spare a thought for editors of the Daily Mail Weekend magazine, who were so chuffed at landing an exclusive interview with Jack Osbourne that they blasted it across the cover. Inside, Jack revealed: 'Dad's great and his mood's really high.' Unfortunately by the time of publication, the hellraising, bat-eating Ozzy had passed away. Panicked meetings were held to see if the mag could be pulled but alas, as with Ozzy, it was all too late.
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