PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL — Former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg has filed a defamation and libel lawsuit against The Palm Beach Post, its corporate parents and two individuals in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, alleging that four newspaper publications falsely portrayed him as having obstructed the release of Jeffrey Epstein grand jury records.
The eight-count complaint, filed July 2, 2026, names CA Florida Holdings, LLC, the Florida entity that publishes The Palm Beach Post, along with USA Today Co., Inc. (formerly Gannett Co., Inc.), Gannett Co., Inc. and Gannett Media Corp. The lawsuit also names Palm Beach Post journalist and editor Holly Baltz and attorney Stephen Mendelsohn, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, P.A., who represented the newspaper in earlier public records litigation.
The action is styled Aronberg v. USA TODAY Co., Inc., et al., Case No. 502026CA007495XXXAMB, and is assigned to Division AH of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Aronberg is represented by Robert S. Winess of Robert S. Winess, P.A., of Boca Raton, according to the complaint.
Aronberg served as State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit from January 2013 until his retirement on January 6, 2025, the complaint states. The publications at issue were printed between July 3, 2024, and July 15, 2025, according to the filing.
The lawsuit alleges that four Palm Beach Post publications repeated a false narrative that Aronberg blocked the disclosure of grand jury records from Epstein's 2006 Palm Beach County prosecution. The complaint contends the newspaper knew Aronberg never had possession or control of those records, that Florida law kept the records sealed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, and that Aronberg had been dropped as a defendant from the newspaper's 2019 public records lawsuit on October 21, 2020, less than a year after being sued.
According to the complaint, the grand jury records were released in July 2024 not because of a court ruling against Aronberg, but because Gov. Ron DeSantis signed CS/HB117, which amended Florida Statute Section 905.27 effective July 1, 2024. The complaint states that Circuit Judge Luis Delgado authorized the release the same day the new law took effect.
The lawsuit specifically challenges a July 3, 2024, article that quoted Mendelsohn describing a "difficult five-year battle" to obtain the transcripts; a July 6, 2024, letter to the editor headlined "Epstein cover-up despicable"; a December 19, 2024, year-end feature published in print December 29, 2024; and a July 15, 2025, article about the newspaper winning a Southeast journalism award for its Epstein coverage. Copies of each publication are attached as exhibits to the complaint.
The complaint asserts four counts of defamation per se (libel) and four counts of defamation by implication under Florida law, citing Jews for Jesus, Inc. v. Rapp, 997 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 2008). The lawsuit alleges the statements were published with actual malice and that Mendelsohn's remarks were made outside any judicial proceeding and are not protected by litigation privilege.
Aronberg is seeking compensatory, actual, presumed and nominal damages, special damages to be proven at trial, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, taxable costs and, where authorized, attorney's fees, according to the filing. The complaint states the value of the matter exceeds $50,000, exclusive of interest, costs and attorney's fees. Aronberg reserves the right to amend the complaint to seek punitive damages under Florida Statute Section 768.72. The lawsuit demands a jury trial.
The complaint states that pre-suit notice was served on the media defendants under Florida Statute Section 770.01 and that no defendant has issued a retraction or clarification.
Boca Post reviewed the complaint, Aronberg v. USA TODAY Co., Inc., et al., Case No. 502026CA007495XXXAMB, filed July 2, 2026, in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, in and for Palm Beach County, Florida.
The filing reviewed by Boca Post does not include a response from any defendant. The case remains newly filed and pending in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
Recent civil filings from Palm Beach County courts are covered by Boca Post through Palm Beach County Lawsuits, including cases involving property owners, associations, companies, and residents.
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