Elie Honig, CNN, RE Epstein - "We will see depositions of Trump; he's the plaintiff."

[Ocelot II]

1. He's the plaintiff so he won't be filing motions to dismiss; he wants the case to continue

until he can extract some money out of WSJ. Anyhow, a plaintiff doesn't have to move for dismissal, he can just withdraw the case voluntarily. Unfortunately for Trump, as Honig pointed out, he is now subject to discovery, which would include the taking of his deposition. If anyone files a motion to dismiss or, more likely, for summary judgment, it will be the defendant WSJ. A plaintiff always has the burden of proving his case by a preponderance of the evidence, and Trump will have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that WSJ published statements about the note in the birthday book that were false - specifically, that it didn't exist and/or that Trump didn't write or sign it. Since the truth is always a complete defense to a defamation claim, he will have to be able to counter that defense with evidence supporting his claim. How is he supposed to do that? His normal delay tactics don't help him a bit in this case.