Florida Supreme Court allows Trump's suit against Pulitzer Prize Board to continue

The Florida Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump's defamation case against the Pulitzer Prize Board over the Russia collusion hoax to continue.

The court declined to hear arguments that the lawsuit should be delayed until the president leaves office, Florida Phoenix reported. 

“This cause having heretofore been submitted to the Court on jurisdictional briefs and portions of the record deemed necessary to reflect jurisdiction under Article V, Section 3(b), Florida Constitution, and the Court having determined that it should decline to accept jurisdiction, it is ordered that the petition for review is denied,” the state high court said.

“No motion for rehearing will be entertained by the Court.”

Attorneys for the Pulitzer board asked the case to be delayed until Trump leaves office, claiming a potential conflict should a state court seek to exercise authority over the U.S. president. The lawsuit was filed in Florida because Trump and one of the board members live there.

Both a state trial judge and the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeals rejected the board's argument, ruling there was no need to delay adjudication of the case.

Trump filed the lawsuit against the board, which decides who wins Pulitzer prizes, after it awarded both The New York Times and The Washington Post in 2018 for their reporting on the Russia collusion hoax.

While the board's lawyers argued that delaying the case would avoid constitutional conflicts that could arise from Trump serving as plaintiff in a case that could involve official presidential acts, the president argued the case should continue.