Trump moves lawsuit against Ann Selzer, Des Moines Register, from federal to state court

DES MOINES — President Donald Trump, Iowa U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and a former state lawmaker refiled a lawsuit in state court against Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register on Monday.

The move came shortly after Trump’s attorneys dismissed the case in federal court Monday. Trump initially brought the lawsuit in December against Selzer, the Des Moines Register, and the paper’s parent company Gannett, alleging fraud in their Iowa Poll published shortly before the Nov. 5 general election.

The poll, conducted by Selzer, showed Democratic presidential candidate and then-Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump by three percentage points in the state. Trump ended up winning Iowa by 13 percentage points. He argued the poll interfered with the election and violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act.

Miller-Meeks and former Republican state Sen. Brad Zaun of Urbandale were added to the lawsuit, alleging the poll also harmed them. Miller-Meeks narrowly won re-election to Iowa’s 1st Congressional District seat and Zaun lost his race to Democratic state Sen. Matt Blake to represent Iowa Senate District 22.

The lawsuit was originally filed in Polk County Court, but was moved to federal court following a request from attorneys for Gannett.

Trump filed a motion to move the case back to state court, which was denied by a federal judge in May. The judge also dismissed Miller-Meeks and Zaun from the case, ruling that they were improperly added to the lawsuit.

Trump was ordered to file an amended complaint without Miller-Meeks and Zaun by July 18.

The new lawsuit closely mirrors the previous one, alleging Iowa Consumer Fraud Act violations and fraudulent misrepresentation.

The lawsuit was filed one day before Iowa’s new anti-SLAPP law is set to go into effect in. House File 427, signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in May, pushes back against strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPP suits, by allowing Iowans to request a rapid dismissal of a lawsuit on free speech grounds.

A SLAPP suit is a lawsuit intended to censor or intimidate critics. Instead of seeking a favorable outcome in court, the intention behind SLAPP suits is to create a chilling effect by draining another party’s financial resources through dragging a case out as long as possible.

Selzer’s legal defense, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Chief Counsel Bob Corn-Revere, said there was no settlement in the case and the group remains confident “the courts will see through this sham lawsuit.”

“This maneuver was not in response to any settlement and is a transparent attempt to avoid federal court review of the president's transparently frivolous claim,” Corn-Revere said in a statement to the Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau. “The case was refiled in state court today, one day before an Iowa law intended to provide strong protections against baseless claims like these — an 'anti-SLAPP' statute — goes into effect. The procedural gamesmanship is obvious and improper. Whatever court ultimately reviews this matter, FIRE will defend J. Ann Selzer's First Amendment rights.”

Legal representation for Trump did not immediately respond to a comment request for this story.