FORMER JUSTICE MINISTER Alan Shatter has filed legal proceedings against Paul Murphy over a social media post the People Before Profit-Solidarity TD shared online that linked him to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. 

Shatter has been the subject of misinformation since the US Department of Justice released the latest tranche of documents related to investigations into Epstein.

The itinerary of former US president Barack Obama’s attorney general Eric Holder, which included a meeting with Shatter in 2011, was shared in numerous posts with the misleading claim that it was Epstein’s travel schedule. 

The claim was debunked by The Journal FactCheck at the time.

On X, Murphy shared a post from another user who asked why RTÉ was not reporting Shatter’s supposed meeting with Epstein. It featured separate pictures of Epstein and Shatter.

Shatter was the focus of a wave of allegations and antisemitic abuse after the claim was shared widely on social media. 

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon paid Shatter damages last month after he shared the false claim. 

The release of the Epstein files was also accompanied by false claims they showed connections between the convicted sex offender and other prominent Irish people, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin and U2 singer Bono.