An Iowa judge dismissed Donald Trump’s suit against the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer, saying the suit sought to make First Amendment-protected speech liable. It challenged a 2024 poll showing Kamala Harris leading Trump by three points in Iowa.
Judge Scott Beattie said the complaint sought to extend Iowa statutory and common law beyond their existing limits, making speech he described as receiving the First Amendment’s highest protection subject to liability. Selzer’s poll was published on Nov. 2, 2024. The White House did not immediately comment. FIRE, which represented Selzer, welcomed the ruling; chief counsel Bob Corn-Revere said the lawsuit should never have been brought.
