Lawsuit Reveals Melania Trump Was Trying To Exploit Her First Lady Role To Make Money

You can cancel that "Free Melania" campaign now, Twitter: Her attorney just admitted that she wanted to use her position as First Lady to turn a profit.

Mrs. Trump's legal team filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court Monday against Mail Media, The Daily Mail's parent company, arguing that an article accusing her of being an escort cost her “significant value" and "major business opportunities that were otherwise available to her" as First Lady.

According to The Washington Post, the suit — which had been dismissed by a Maryland judge for jurisdictional issues on February 2 — says the August 2016 Daily Mail article in question damaged Trump's reputation and thus hurt her chances of forming "multimillion dollar business relationships" when she's "one of the most photographed women in the world."

Trump's lawyers are also claiming that the article caused her to lose a "unique, once in a lifetime opportunity" to "launch a broad-based commercial brand."

"These product categories would have included, among other things, apparel, accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skincare and fragrance," reads the lawsuit.

Though the article was eventually retracted, Trump is still seeking compensatory and punitive damages of at $150 million from Mail Media for the "significant emotional and economic damage" it caused her, the Post reported.

The attorney representing Trump is California attorney Charles Harder, who made headlines last year when he represented Hulk Hogan, winning the wrestler $140 million in a suit against Gawker. 

Richard Painter, a former White House ethics counsel under President George W. Bush who's openly critical of Melania's husband, told the Post Monday that he's alarmed by Mrs. Trump's lawsuit.

"There has never been a first lady of the United States who insinuated that she intended to make a lot of money because of the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity of being first lady," Painter said.