Aronberg Sues Palm Beach Post Over Epstein Coverage

Tuesday, 7 July 2026, 7:26Tuesday, 7 July 2026, 7:27
News

Also Names USA Today, Gannett, Reporters… Read The Complaint…

BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher | BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg has filed a defamation lawsuit against the Palm Beach Post, its parent companies, and two of its journalists, accusing the newspaper of falsely and repeatedly claiming he blocked the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s grand jury records. The complaint was just obtained by BocaNewsNow.com and is published in its entirety below. It names CA Florida Holdings LLC, USA Today Co. (formerly Gannett Co.), Gannett Media Corp., Post editor Holly Baltz, and attorney Stephen Mendelsohn as defendants. Aronberg is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and wants a trial in front of a jury.

At the center of the suit is a July 3, 2024, Post article quoting Mendelsohn, the newspaper’s outside attorney, saying the Epstein grand jury transcripts “could have been released sooner were it not for opposition from current State Attorney Dave Aronberg.” Aronberg’s complaint says that statement was knowingly false, noting he never possessed the grand jury records, had no legal authority to release them, and that Florida law made disclosure a criminal act. Three circuit judges had already ruled on those points before the article ran, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit says the Post doubled down three days later, publishing a Letter to the Editor headlined “Epstein cover-up despicable” that quoted a senior manager at the newspaper saying the information could have come out years earlier if Aronberg “hadn’t opposed the release.” Aronberg’s attorneys argue in the complaint that the “letter to the editor” repeated the same allegedly false claim.

The complaint says the newspaper kept repeating the theme in a December 2024 “best stories of the year” roundup and again in a July 2025 piece touting a journalism award, which described Aronberg as having “vociferously opposed” making the records public. Aronberg’s lawyers say the Post and its attorney knew as far back as October 2019 that his office had already turned over everything in its possession related to Epstein.

The Aronberg complaint alleges defamation and malice. No defendant has issued a retraction, according to the filing. Aronberg’s attorneys write in the filing that they have reserved the right to seek punitive damages. No defendant had filed a response to the suit — processed by the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts — as of early Tuesday. Read the complete filing, below.