In perhaps one of the most bizarre legal whiplashes since the start of Donald Trump's second presidency, he dropped his lawsuit against polling expert Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register on Monday — but then filed it again, in a different court.
Politico's Kyle Cheney, reporting on the development, expressed puzzlement by the move.
"UPDATE: Trump has refiled his suit against Selzer and DMR in Iowa state court, an odd move since the federal judge in the original case denied his effort to transfer back to state court," Cheney posted on X. "Appeal was pending when Trump dismissed earlier suit."
The suit stems from a poll released by Selzer and the newspaper days before the 2024 election. The poll, widely regarded as the gold standard for forecasting Iowa voters, had then-Vice President Kamala Harris carrying the state, which would have been a massive upset as Iowa has not been regarded as competitive in presidential contests since the Obama administration.
Ultimately, the poll was off, with Trump carrying the state decisively, and Selzer later announced her retirement from the polling industry. However, Trump sued Selzer and the Register under a novel legal theory that the poll was a deliberate act of fraud designed to mislead the voting public and depress turnout for his voters.
Legal experts widely view the lawsuit as meritless and an attempt to intimidate journalists who might report negative things about the president into silence.
“This frivolous effort is motivated solely by a president’s desire to punish perceived political opponents and to intimidate would-be critics into silence — a breathtaking assault on the First Amendment and the underpinnings of a free society," stated Robert Corn-Revere chief legal counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, in a press release about their legal brief in defense of Selzer and DMR. "Once you get past the groundless assertions, campaign-style hyperbole, and overheated conspiracy theories, there is nothing left.”