Trump wins legal victory in lawsuit against Iowa pollster, newspaper

First on Fox – President Donald Trump won a legal victory in a lawsuit against him on Friday Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register, because the case will now go to Iowa state court after an appeals court sided with the president and a lower court ruled trespassing.

Trump’s legal team, which accuses the defendants of “definitely election interference” in his 2024 Iowa presidential final vote showing him trailing Democrat Kamala Harris, originally requested the case be moved to Iowa state court in May after the defendants “removed” the case in federal court. Federal judge Request denied At the time, however, the Obama-appointed judge was overruled by the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

In a bluntly worded opinion, the Eighth Circuit granted Trump’s petition — a rare judicial order used to correct a clear legal error — and allowed Trump to sue after a district judge dismissed the case “without prejudice.”

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President Donald Trump on Friday told Iowa pollster J. Wins important legal victory in lawsuit against Ann Selzer and Des Moines Register. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Today’s fair and proper ruling by the 8th Circuit ensures that President Trump’s powerhouse case, J. Ann Selzer, focused on fraudulent, election-interfering polls conducted by J. Ann Selzer, the Des Moines Register and its corporate owner Gannett, will be litigated in Iowa state court,” a spokeswoman for Trump’s legal team said. Fox News Digital.

“These defendants have repeatedly engaged in illegal games to avoid state court, and that ends today,” the spokesperson added. “President Trump will hold accountable those who traffic in fake news, lies and smears.”

Bob Korn-Revere, lead attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which represents Selzer, issued the following statement.

“The Eighth Circuit’s decision focused entirely on a technicality of civil procedure and said nothing about the merits of the case. This case is as frivolous today as it was yesterday, and the truth will eventually come out in any forum,” Korn-Revere told Fox News Digital.

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After releasing a massively inaccurate survey ahead of the 2024 elections, J. Ann Selzer made headlines after showing Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump in Iowa. Trump won the state by more than 13 points. (YouTube screenshot via Getty Images/ The Bulwark Podcast)

Lark-Marie Antón, a spokeswoman for Des Moines Register parent company Gannett, believes the case is in federal court.

“We are evaluating the court’s decision. Given the nature of the case and the fact that it involves the President of the United States as a plaintiff, we believe that the federal courts are the most appropriate forum for this case. If the case is heard by the state courts of Iowa, we believe that this case will be fairly decided,” Digital News Ant said.

The lawsuit was originally filed in December in Polk County, Iowa, and seeks liability for brazen election interference by the “Des Moines Register (DMR) and Selzer” in favor of now-defeated former Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. 2 November 2024.

“The Harris Poll was not a ‘miss’ but an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election,” the lawsuit states at the time, adding that “Democrat defendants and their groups hoped that the Harris Poll would create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.”

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Donald Trump takes the stage during a campaign event at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa on January 14, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Selzer released her final Des Moines Register-sponsored poll Harris leads Trump by three points Just three days before the election in Iowa. That shock poll showed a seven-point shift from Trump to Harris from September, when the same poll had a four-point lead over the vice president.

Selzer was of opinion The media promoted it Her poll predictions in the days leading up to the election were historically accurate. Many suggested that this signaled a significant shift in Midwest support for Harris in a red state, but the polls were completely off.

Trump defeated Harris by more than 13 percentage points in Iowa, winning the state for the third consecutive time and the first time any candidate won there by double digits since 1980.

Shortly after the election, Selzer announced that her election voting was complete and Going to “Other Activities”.

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Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Cornick and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.