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PoliticsActive · 35h

Iowa judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit against Des Moines Register poll

Judge Scott Beattie ruled that poll coverage enjoys First Amendment protection, rejecting Trump's fraud claims; Trump plans to appeal to state Supreme Court.

What to know

  • An Iowa state judge ruled Wednesday that a poll and its news coverage are constitutionally protected political speech, dismissing Trump's fraud lawsuit against The Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer.
  • The judge said allowing the case to proceed would chill reporting on public affairs, and that the lawsuit failed even if he accepted Trump's factual allegations that the poll was intentionally skewed.
  • Trump's legal team has signaled an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court; a parallel federal appellate case over a subscriber's class-action fraud suit is also pending.

“The plaintiff's argument, essentially, is that any subscriber can sue a publication if they become frustrated in believing that their news product is inaccurate.”

Robert Corn-Revere, Attorney for Selzer, Foundation for Individual Rights · Courthouse News Service ↗

Donald TrumpDonald Trump President; lawsuit filerJ. Ann Selzer Pollster; defendantThe Des Moines Register Newspaper; defendantJudge Scott J. Beattie Iowa District Judge

Iowa judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit against Des Moines Register poll
Courthouse News

How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments

Peak 15 pieces in one half hour at Yesterday, 6 PM; 57 pieces over 36 hours (36 articles · 20 posts · 1 comment) Sep 22, 12:58 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 22, 1:28 PM — quietSep 22, 1:58 PM — quietSep 22, 2:28 PM — quietSep 22, 2:58 PM — quietSep 22, 3:28 PM — quietSep 22, 3:58 PM — quietSep 22, 4:28 PM — quietSep 22, 4:58 PM — quietSep 22, 5:28 PM — quietSep 22, 5:58 PM — quietSep 22, 6:28 PM — quietSep 22, 6:58 PM — quietSep 22, 7:28 PM — quietSep 22, 7:58 PM — quietSep 22, 8:28 PM — quietSep 22, 8:58 PM — quietSep 22, 9:28 PM — quietSep 22, 9:58 PM — quietSep 22, 10:28 PM — quietSep 22, 10:58 PM — quietSep 22, 11:28 PM — quietSep 22, 11:58 PM — quietYesterday, 12:28 AM — quietYesterday, 12:58 AM — quietYesterday, 1:28 AM — quietYesterday, 1:58 AM — quietYesterday, 2:28 AM — quietYesterday, 2:58 AM — quietYesterday, 3:28 AM — quietYesterday, 3:58 AM — quietYesterday, 4:28 AM — quietYesterday, 4:58 AM — quietYesterday, 5:28 AM — quietYesterday, 5:58 AM — quietYesterday, 6:28 AM — quietYesterday, 6:58 AM — quietYesterday, 7:28 AM — quietYesterday, 7:58 AM — quietYesterday, 8:28 AM — quietYesterday, 8:58 AM — quietYesterday, 9:28 AM — quietYesterday, 9:58 AM — quietYesterday, 10:28 AM — quietYesterday, 10:58 AM — quietYesterday, 11:28 AM — quietYesterday, 11:58 AM — 13 pieces · 13 articles — Newswires 13Yesterday, 12:28 PM — quietYesterday, 12:58 PM — quietYesterday, 1:28 PM — quietYesterday, 1:58 PM — quietYesterday, 2:28 PM — quietYesterday, 2:58 PM — quietYesterday, 3:28 PM — quietYesterday, 3:58 PM — quietYesterday, 4:28 PM — quietYesterday, 4:58 PM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Newswires 2, Google News 1Yesterday, 5:28 PM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Newswires 3Yesterday, 5:58 PM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 post — Google News 2, Mastodon 1Yesterday, 6:28 PM — 10 pieces · 6 articles · 4 posts — Google News 4, Mastodon 3, Newswires 2, +1 moreYesterday, 6:58 PM — 15 pieces · 5 articles · 9 posts · 1 comment — Mastodon 7, Newswires 5, Reddit 2, +1 moreYesterday, 7:28 PM — 3 pieces · 3 posts — Bluesky 2, Mastodon 1Yesterday, 7:58 PM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Mastodon 2Yesterday, 8:28 PM — quietYesterday, 8:58 PM — quietYesterday, 9:28 PM — quietYesterday, 9:58 PM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Yesterday, 10:28 PM — quietYesterday, 10:58 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Yesterday, 11:28 PM — quietYesterday, 11:58 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Today, 12:28 AM — quiet 1–23
4 PMyesterday8 AM4 PMnow · 12:58 AM ET
  1. 3

    Selzer and newspaper react with statements affirming First Amendment victory

    Selzer said she was grateful the ruling reaffirms the fundamental freedom to pursue and publish truth without political interference. USA Today Co.'s chief legal counsel called the decision a victory for the First Amendment and the free press.

    “Polling is a social science, not clairvoyance, and no responsible pollster can guarantee an election outcome.”
    — J. Ann Selzer
    1. first by Philadelphia Inquirer, 7h ago · also CBS News, The Guardian, Yahoo, CNN, Mediaite, Chicago Tribune +12

      12 more headlines
    • nothoodlum.bsky.social

      The perennial loser had his lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and its former pollster thrown out of court.

      nothoodlum.bsky.socialBluesky5h ago611▲view on Bluesky ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 7 posts in this stretch
    • The damage has been done. Large amounts of money has been spent by small town journalists in their legal defense. The Republican goal is constant intimidation of our nation's core rights and liberties, and this case fortifies this fascist attack Link this with Trump's constant badgering of reporters and lawsuits and edicts of evictions of…

      dominiond66r/politics5h agoview on r/politics ↗
    • Mediagazer@mstdn.social

      An Iowa judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit accusing The Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer of misrepresenting the state of the 2024 presidential race (Hannah Fingerhut/Associated Press) https:// apnews.com/article/trump-lawsu it-iowa-2024-poll-de7d37ffc006ae35a69753f8456ff078 http:// mediagazer.com/260923/p26#a260 923p26

      Mediagazer@mstdn.socialMastodon6h agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  2. 1

    Trump's legal team signals appeal to Iowa Supreme Court

    A spokesman for Trump's legal team announced the president will appeal the dismissal to the Iowa Supreme Court.

  3. background

    Iowa District Judge Scott Beattie dismisses Trump's state court lawsuit — Judge Beattie ruled that allowing the lawsuit to proceed could have a chilling effect on reporting about public affairs. He wrote that Trump's suit sought to stretch Iowa law to turn constitutionally protected political speech into a liability, and that the case fails even accepting the Trump team's factual allegations about the poll being intentionally skewed.

  4. background

    Judge hears arguments in case on Trump's ban of CNN, MSNBC, and Politico from White House — A judge heard arguments but did not rule from the bench in a separate case challenging Trump's Friday ban of three news outlets from White House grounds.

  5. 2

    Oral arguments heard in federal appellate case over subscriber lawsuit

    An Eighth Circuit panel heard arguments on Donnelly's appeal of the federal court's dismissal. Donnelly's attorney argued there was only a 1-in-3.5-million chance the poll was an honest mistake, while Selzer's counsel argued the plaintiff's theory would allow any subscriber to sue over perceived inaccuracy.

    “There is a 1 in 3.5 million chance that the poll was an honest mistake.”
    — Daniel R. Suhr, Attorney for subscriber Donnelly · source
  6. background

    Federal court dismisses subscriber class-action suit on First Amendment grounds — A federal judge dismissed a separate consumer fraud lawsuit filed by Register subscriber Dennis Donnelly using the same theory, ruling that defendants are shielded by the actual malice standard from New York Times v. Sullivan.

  7. background

    Trump files lawsuit accusing Register and Selzer of fraudulent poll coverage — Trump sued The Des Moines Register, pollster J. Ann Selzer, and the newspaper's parent company, claiming they fraudulently published inaccurate poll results to damage him and help Democrats, and arguing that poll coverage is not protected speech.

  8. background

    Selzer's Des Moines Register poll shows Harris leading Trump by 3 points in Iowa — Pollster J. Ann Selzer's company conducted a poll in the final days of October 2024, released just days before Election Day, showing Kamala Harris at 47% and Trump at 44% among likely Iowa voters. Trump ultimately won Iowa with 56% of the vote.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. first by The Gateway Pundit, 12h ago · also Politico, MeidasTouch, Courthouse News Service, Courthouse News

    3 more headlines

and 1 smaller piece

What people are saying 4 voices from 2 sites · best of 7 · verbatim