A federal appeals court rejected an appeal from former coal executive Don Blankenship in his defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump Jr. Blankenship had sued Trump Jr. over a 2018 social media post referring to Blankenship as a "felon" following his conviction for a mine safety violation. Blankenship served a year in prison related to his role in a 2010 West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 people. The appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling, finding that Trump Jr. did not publish the statement with "actual malice" as required for defamation.