A Florida judge on Monday denied a request by the Pulitzer Prize Board to pause a defamation lawsuit from President Donald Trump.
The board had asked that its proposed delay remain in place as long as Trump holds the presidency.
Senior Circuit Judge Robert Pegg denied the request, based on which party in the suit has the prerogative to make that request of the court. The judge said the issue could be revisited if Trump fails to meet future court timelines.
"Plaintiff's arguments are well taken. Should the duties of the President interfere with his ability to perform his obligations in this action, he is certainly entitled to seek the appropriate relief," the judge wrote. "Should he not do so, yet not comply with the rules of this court, defendants may apply for the appropriate sanctions as they would against any other plaintiff."
Trump sued for defamation after The New York Times and The Washington Post were awarded Pulitzer Prizes in 2018 for reporting that dealt with claims of Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
The Pulitzer Board posted that it commissioned two independent reviews based on questions submitted by Trump about the reporting.
"The separate reviews converged in their conclusions: that no passages or headlines, contentions or assertions in any of the winning submissions were discredited by facts that emerged subsequent to the conferral of the prizes," the board said in a statement.
A potential next hearing in the case has not been scheduled.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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