The Trumps have been almost weirdly untouchable with respect to crimes and tort liability. Given the family’s past and… well, money solves a lot of problems. But it looks like some of those lies may finally be catching up to at least a few members of the Trump family. Don Jr. might have made a major mistake and this one looks like one dangerous civil case, one that could be very expensive.

In 2018, Donald Trump Jr. claimed that the former coal CEO, Don Blakenship was a “felon.” But, Blankenship was convicted of a misdemeanor, which is a pretty significant difference. Blakenship sued for defamation. Junior’s attorney’s sought to have the case thrown out. The judge decided that the case has merit and will go forward. (^By the way, Blakenship is far from a good guy, he is as evil as Don Jr., it would just be interesting to see Don Jr. pay). From Rawstory:

Trump Jr.’s lawyers sought to have the case dismissed, but U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver rejected that Wednesday and said the case could move ahead. The decision was made, in large part, because Copenhaver believes that Don Jr. may have been aware that he was lying.

“To plead actual malice, therefore, [a plaintiff] must plausibly allege that [the defendant] [published] the [material] with a ‘high degree of awareness’ that it was ‘likely’ false,” the decision read. “Recklessness may be found where there are obvious reasons to doubt the veracity or accuracy of information.[P]laintiff alleges facts in support of the inference that Trump, Jr. issued the tweet with knowledge of its falsity: (1) Trump, Jr. was involved in high-level discussions about the primary campaign in West Virginia, (2) he made the statements shortly after one such meeting, (3) the comments were made as part of a string of false comments by sophisticated party operatives, (4) the true facts were widely available on the internet and had been widely reported, and (5) he never retracted or corrected the false tweets, despite being informed of their falsity.”

In other words, Blakenship just survived a summary judgment motion. Junior’s attorneys’ argued that Blakenship couldn’t prove “malice.” And yet, each of the elements listed above was found to be sufficient to prove a possible case of malice. The judge found enough evidence presented for a jury to decide the facts, the case will be going to trial (absent another successful motion (almost impossible) or a sealed settlement, much more likely.

Don Junior, at least, may finally truly “pay” for one of his lies. It might also give some other people some ideas. They better hurry, though, each of these suits has to meet a statute of limitations.

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LeftScoop.news. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.