Iowa judge dismisses Trump suit against Des Moines Register

Trump’s suit “seeks to stretch both Iowa statutory and common law beyond their current bounds, turning speech that enjoys the highest category of First Amendment protection into a liability,” the judge wrote. DES MOINES, Iowa (CN) — An Iowa judge Wednesday dismissed President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and its pollster he claimed defrauded him and its readers with a last-minute poll that showed him losing in Iowa ahead of the November 2024 election. He ultimately won the state by 16 points. Trump filed suit in state court accusing the Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer of consumer fraud for Selzer’s poll published three days ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election. U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former Iowa State Senator Brad Zaun were later added as plaintiffs for their own objections to the poll. Polk County District Judge Scott Beattie granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss, holding that the Register is protected by the First Amendment from the plaintiffs’ claims and the fraud claims fail under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act even if the First Amendment did not apply in this case. “This case sets a president, a member of Congress, and a former state senator against a pollster and a newspaper, and it arises out of an election.

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