President Donald Trump has asked a US court to order a swift deposition of Rupert Murdoch in his lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, citing the media mogul's advanced age.
Trump sued the billionaire over an article in the Journal, which is owned by Murdoch's News Corp, that alleged the president had written a "bawdy" letter to celebrate sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's birthday in 2003.
In a court filing on Monday, Trump's lawyers stated that he had informed Murdoch prior to the report being published that the letter was "fake".
Trump's lawyers argued that Murdoch should be asked to depose swiftly, noting that he was 94 and "is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares".
"Taken together, these factors weigh heavily in determining that Murdoch would be unavailable for in-person testimony at trial," Trump's lawyers stated in their filing in Miami federal court.
