Former President Donald Trump scored a notable legal victory when his lawsuit against Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register was moved to Iowa State Court last week — a move legal analyst Danny Karon described as “good strategy” by Trump’s legal team.
Trump’s attorneys, who have accused the defendants of “brazen election interference” over a 2024 Iowa presidential poll showing him trailing Democrat Kamala Harris, had initially asked in May for the case to be sent back to Iowa State Court after the defendants moved it to federal court. Although a federal judge denied that request, the decision was later overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit on Friday.
Karon — an attorney and author of Your Lovable Lawyer’s Guide to Legal Wellness — praised the move, saying the team “played it perfectly.”
“The federal judge was terrible for him. It was an Obama appointee,” Karon told Fox News Digital, explaining that Trump’s team sought a more favorable venue. While some might call it “forum shopping,” Karon viewed it as sound legal maneuvering. “You want to find a judge where you’re going to have a fair shake,” he said. “He liked the state court judge, didn’t like the federal judge. When the defendants removed him to federal court, he wanted really bad to get it back. Now he’s where he wants to be.”
Karon noted the unusual legal angle of Trump’s case — which alleges consumer fraud — since such claims typically involve defective or misrepresented products. “Trump said, ‘The newspaper was the product that was sold. It had a fraud in it — this ginned-up poll — it wasn’t true or accurate. It was deceptive and people were damaged, namely me,’” Karon explained, adding that Trump claimed he had to spend campaign funds to counter the poll’s impact.
He expects Selzer and The Des Moines Register to file a motion to dismiss. “If that’s denied, you get into discovery, which is ugly and expensive and takes forever — and that’s often where cases settle,” Karon said.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team celebrated the ruling, calling it “a just and appropriate decision by the 8th Circuit” ensuring the case will be tried “in Iowa State Court where it belongs.” They accused the defendants of “unlawful gamesmanship” and vowed that Trump “will continue to hold those who traffic in fake news, lies, and smears to account.”
Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and representative for Selzer, countered that the ruling was merely procedural. “The 8th Circuit ruling was focused entirely on a technical point of civil procedure and said nothing about the merits of the case,” he said. “This case is every bit as frivolous today as it was yesterday.”
Lark-Marie Antón, spokesperson for The Des Moines Register’s parent company, Gannett, stated that they “continue to believe the federal courts are the most appropriate forum for this lawsuit,” but added that if the case proceeds in state court, they are confident “the matter will be adjudicated fairly.”
Originally filed in December in Polk County, Iowa, the lawsuit seeks accountability for what it calls “brazen election interference” by The Des Moines Register and Selzer “in favor of now-defeated former Democrat candidate Kamala Harris” through a “leaked and manipulated” poll published on November 2, 2024. The filing claimed the poll was designed to influence the election outcome by creating “a false narrative of inevitability” for Harris.
Selzer’s final poll, released just three days before the election, showed Harris leading Trump by three points in Iowa — a dramatic seven-point swing from September’s numbers that had Trump ahead by four. The media spotlighted the poll heavily, given Selzer’s reputation for accuracy, suggesting a possible shift toward Harris in the Midwest. However, the results proved wrong: Trump defeated Harris in Iowa by more than 13 percentage points, marking his third consecutive win in the state and the first double-digit victory there since 1980.
Following the election, Selzer announced her departure from election polling to focus on “other ventures.”
