Conservative media baron Rupert Murdoch will give President Donald Trump regular updates on his health as part of an agreement to postpone Murdoch’s deposition in Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against him over a Wall Street Journal article about late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The unusual stipulation comes a week after Trump’s lawyers sought a quick deposition in the case. Their filing in Miami federal court implied that Murdoch might be either dead or too sick to testify in person by the time the case went to trial.
“Murdoch is 94 years old, has suffered from multiple health issues throughout his life, is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares, and is presumed to live in New York, New York,” Trump’s lawyers said in their filing last week.
Murdoch’ agreement to divulge highly personal information about his health to Trump and his lawyers contrasts sharply with the cozy relationship Murdoch’s Fox News has had with the president over the years.
Fox News for more than a decade has acted as a cheerleader for Trump and his policies. The president is an avid watcher of the conservative network, and several of his key administration officials have worked for Fox. Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, currently has a show on Fox News.
The new deal, outlined in a court filing jointly filed by Trump’s and Murdoch’s lawyers late Monday night, postpones Murdoch’s deposition in the case until after a judge rules on his and other defendants’ motions to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit.
If the judge denies that dismissal motion, Murdoch would have to sit for questioning under oath from Trump’s lawyers within 30 days.
The deal has to be approved by the judge, but it is likely to be approved given that both sides have agreed to it.
When the judge signs off on it, Murdoch will be required within three calendar days to give Trump’s’ lawyers “a sworn declaration describing his current health condition,” according to the stipulation filed Monday.
“Defendant Murdoch has further agreed to provide regularly scheduled updates to Plaintiff regarding his health, including a mechanism for him to alert the Plaintiff if there is a material change to his health,” the filing says.
That mechanism is described in a separately signed agreement, which was not publicly filed with the court.
If Murdoch fails to provide the updates as agreed to in the abatement agreement, he will have to sit for an “expedited” deposition, the filing says.
A spokesman for Trump declined to comment on the filing.
CNBC has requested comment from Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of the Journal, which is owned by Murdoch’s News Corp.
Trump’s suit alleges defamation for a Wall Street Journal article in July which said he had sent Epstein a “bawdy” birthday card in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
Trump, who denies writing the note, sued Murdoch; News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson; Dow Jones & Co.; and the two reporters who wrote the article.
For weeks, the president and the Justice Department have faced criticism for a decision not to release investigative files about Epstein, a former friend of Trump’s, who died by suicide in jail in 2019, after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges.