Trump Refiles Lawsuit Against Iowa Pollster, This Time in State Rather Than Federal Court

President Trump has refiled a lawsuit against a prominent Iowa pollster, Ann Selzer, accusing her of producing a misleading pre-election poll in the lead-up to the 2024 election. On Monday, Mr. Trump withdrew a federal lawsuit against Ms. Selzer and the Des Moines Register over the survey, which showed the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Harris, holding a three-point lead over the president. The suit was dropped “without prejudice,” meaning it could theoretically be refiled at a later date. In the original suit, Mr. Trump’s legal team argued that Ms. Selzer’s poll constituted “fake news” designed to interfere with the election. Ms. Selzer’s attorneys, supported by the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, countered with a defense rooted in First Amendment protections. Lead counsel Robert Corn-Revere called the lawsuit “about as unconstitutional as it gets,” describing it as a transparent effort to intimidate the press and suppress unfavorable reporting.After Mr. Trump refiled the lawsuit in state court, FIRE representatives accused the president of court shopping. “The case was refiled in state court today, one day before an Iowa law intended to provide strong protections against baseless claims like these — an ‘anti-SLAPP’ statute — goes into effect,” the group said in a statement. “The procedural gamesmanship is obvious and improper. Whatever court ultimately reviews this matter, FIRE will defend J. Ann Selzer’s First Amendment rights, and we remain confident the courts will see through this sham lawsuit.”The newspaper also released a statement. “The Des Moines Register will continue to resist President Trump’s litigation gamesmanship and believes that regardless of the forum it will be successful in defending its rights under the First Amendment,” a Register spokeswoman, Lark-Marie Anton, said.In the original complaint, Mr. Trump accused Ms. Selzer and the newspaper of committing “brazen election interference” by publishing the poll, citing the survey results as misleading and damaging. The poll turned out to be wrong. Mr. Trump went on to win Iowa by a commanding 13-point margin, marking a 16-point error for the pollster. The discrepancy led to heated debates about polling accuracy, particularly as Ms. Selzer — who has since retired — was regarded as one of the nation’s most reliable pollsters.Despite Mr. Trump’s decisive victory, in December he filed the lawsuit alleging that the poll was part of a broader Democratic strategy to undermine his campaign. According to the complaint, the poll created a “false narrative of inevitability” for Ms. Harris and was characterized as an “unfair act or practice” under Iowa’s consumer fraud law. Mr. Trump’s lawyers also said the erroneous poll “caused substantial, unavoidable injury to consumers that was not outweighed by any consumer or competitive benefits which the practice produced.”“Defendants and their cohorts in the Democrat Party hoped that the Harris Poll would create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 Presidential Election. Instead, the November 5 Election was a monumental victory for President Trump in both the Electoral College and the Popular Vote, an overwhelming mandate for his America First principles, and the consignment of the radical socialist agenda to the dustbin of history,” attorneys for Mr. Trump said.

Trump Refiles Lawsuit Against Iowa Pollster, This Time in State Rather Than Federal Court

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