Media Facing Lawsuits Over False Melania Trump Reports

The lawyer for Melania Trump has notified news agencies, including The Daily Mail and Politico, of potential legal action against those who have defamed Mrs. Trump as "having been an 'escort' in the 1990s," attorney Charles Harder said in an email statement to CNN.

The Daily Mail, The Week, Politico, Inquisitr, Tarpley, Before It's News, Liberal America, LawNewz, Winning Democrats and Bipartisan Report were the publications addressed in the email warning, the Trump lawyer told CNNMoney on Monday.

The Daily Mail referenced a report in a Slovenian magazine about the escort claim and several organizations repeated the potentially libelous report. Harder, who represented Hulk Hogan in his defamation suit against Gawker, told CNNMoney the notices represent a threat to sue and warning to issue a correction or a retraction.

Inquisitr and Bipartisan Report both issued retractions of the "hearsay" reports Monday.

Legal experts told CNNMoney an outlet in the U.K. is more susceptible to a libel lawsuit than those in the U.S. because of laws that favor the plaintiff. The U.S. libel laws put more burden of proof on the plaintiff.

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