Judge threatens Trump with sanctions in his pollster lawsuit
Share and Follow

Left: President Donald Trump participates in a session of the G7 Summit, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Kananaskis, Canada (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein). Right: Pollster J. Ann Selzer (Jenny Condon Photography, used with permission of FIRE).

A federal judge presiding over Donald Trump”s “consumer fraud” lawsuit against an Iowa newspaper and a pollster who incorrectly predicted the 2024 election results has warned the president’s private lawyers to file an amended complaint by the deadline or else risk facing sanctions.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger on Wednesday refused to grant Trump a stay that would have pushed back a basic filing deadline another month, after he was previously granted an extension and failed to voluntarily dismiss his own case.

Trump was ordered to file his amended complaint against now-retired pollster J. Ann Selzer, the Des Moines Register, and media company Gannett on July 18, removing current and former lawmaker “co-plaintiffs” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Bradley Zaun from the case and “eliminating claims exclusive to those Plaintiffs.”

Instead of filing the amended suit, however, Trump sought a stay on the day of the deadline, claiming that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit should be allowed to decide first whether jurisdictional technicalities meant the case actually was successfully dismissed.

“Again, on the final day Trump was permitted to file the previously ordered amended complaint, Trump moved for ‘the Court [to] stay the requirement to file an amended complaint for 30 days following the Eighth Circuit’s disposition of the motion’ described above,” Ebinger noted. “Defendants resist.”

The judge concluded that because Trump “has not shown a strong likelihood of success or the presence of irreparable harm,” he was not entitled to a stay. But she also warned him to comply with the new deadline of July 25 by 5 p.m., or else.

“The Court expects compliance with all court orders. Failure to comply with orders of the Court may result in sanctions,” Ebinger wrote. “The parties must comport with all rules regulating this litigation, including the Local Rules and applicable deadlines.”

The warning from the judge did not come out of nowhere. Selzer’s attorneys with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) days ago blasted the plaintiff for acting like “compliance” with court orders is “optional” by essentially blowing off the July 18 deadline to repeat a failed stay tactic.

“This is the second time Plaintiff Donald Trump has defied an order from this Court directing him to file an amended complaint removing the allegations he added ‘to defeat the Court’s jurisdiction over the case,'” the filing said. “The first time, after this Court denied Plaintiff’s remand motion and ordered him to file an amended complaint within seven days, he instead filed a motion for stay.”

“This Court promptly denied that motion and ordered Plaintiff to file his revised pleading on July 18th,” the defendants summed up. “He’s now pulled the same stunt again.”

Share and Follow
You May Also Like

Cruise Ship Crew Member Stabs Another Crew Member, Jumps Overboard

A cruise ship crew member stabbed another crew member Thursday night then…

Police Report: Man Strangled After Discovering Signs of Infidelity

Background: News footage of the home in San Antonio, Texas where the…

Suspected gun traffickers mistakenly involved in home invasion convicted

Background: Bernadette Gaudio and her son Andrew Gaudio (GoFundMe). Insets, left to…

Cult Mom Lori Vallow Daybell Sentenced for Conspiracy to Kill 4th Husband, Niece’s Ex-Husband

“Cult mom” Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced to two more life sentences…

NURSING STUDENT HOLLY BOBO GOES INTO THE WOODS AND VANISHES: KILLER WALKS FREE?

Holly Bobo, a beautiful young nursing student, disappears from her family home…

Lawyers claim mom accused of Munchausen syndrome is now completely cleared of charges.

Jessica Gasser (provided). A Texas mother accused of subjecting her then-3-year-old daughter…

Man Murders Wife and Alleged Lover Over Suspected Infidelity: Police

Background: The 200 block of Meeks Road in Henry County, Virginia (Google…

Mom & Infant Daughter Still Missing 10 Days After Failing to Return Home

California authorities are looking for an 8-month-old girl and her mother who…