Donald Trump isn't wasting his precious, billionaire time RIGGING beauty pageants, despite allegations from a scorned pageant contestant ... this according to a judge.

As we previously reported, Trump had filed a lawsuit against former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin ... claiming she defamed his Miss Universe Org. when she went on a media blitz and accused the Miss USA pageant of being rigged.  

At the time, Monnin had claimed a fellow Miss USA contestant had seen a list containing the top 5 contestants before they were officially announced at the event. Trump denied the allegations.

The case went to arbitration ... and now, the retired U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge who oversaw the case ruled that Monnin DID defame the Miss Universe Org. ... and awarded M.U.O. $5 million in damages.

Trump also released a statement saying, "We cannot allow a disgruntled contestant to make false and reckless statements which are damaging to the many people who have devoted their hearts and souls to the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageant systems.”

He added, "While I feel very badly for Sheena, she did the wrong thing. She was really nasty, and we had no choice. It is an expensive lesson for her."

If the Miss USA pageant really was fixed, you can rule out one possible culprit -- the number crunchers responsible for tabulating the girls' scores ... this according to the number-crunching company.

As we reported, Ex-Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin surrendered her sash last week -- claiming another contestant had seen a list of the top 5 girls long before the final competition ... meaning the results were fixed.

But a rep for Ernst & Young -- the tabulating company employed by the Miss Universe organization -- released a statement today, explaining how its firm did NOTHING unsavory.

According to the rep, Miss USA judges submitted their scores directly to E&Y, and E&Y then independently tabulated them -- the scores remained under E&Y's control until the results were handed directly to the hosts for announcement.

The rep says, no one could have seen a list of the top 10 or top 5 beforehand "because they did not exist until they were tabulated by us."

E&Y insists the results determining the top 5 were determined Sunday June 3rd -- AFTER the evening gown competition -- which rules out the possibility of a preexisting list.

Unfortunately, that's not necessarily true -- the judges could still theoretically have colluded independent of E&Y, which basically makes its statement completely meaningless.

Miss Pennsylvania is finally getting some backup ... because a SECOND Miss USA contestant is now saying there is PROOF the competition was rigged.

Problem is ... the corroborator is not revealing her identity.

FOXNews.com says the network spoke with the mystery contestant ... who says Miss Florida Karina Brez told her she saw a secret Miss USA document which contained the names of the Top 5 finalists ... before the Top 15 were announced.

"I saw Florida backstage and she was very, very flustered and upset. I thought it might be because she didn’t make the top 15 cut, but at that point she was able to reveal to me at least four of the five names who went on to be the top girls," the contestant told FOXNews.

The mystery woman continued, "[Miss FL] couldn’t remember the fifth because she was so upset. Several of the girls then started hearing through the grapevine about a list; a lot of people were upset.”

The story seems to fall in line with the allegations made by Miss PA Sheena Monnin -- who claimed Miss FL told her the same thing while they were backstage. Monnin has since resigned from her post and has given back her crown.

The Miss USA pageant -- and its owner Donald Trump -- have all denied the allegations ... and have taken legal action ... claiming Monnin's claims are just "loser's remorse."

Multiple contestants are also standing behind Trump ... saying Miss PA is a sore loser who made the whole thing up.

Miss Colorado and Miss South Carolina shouldn't have made the Top 16 at the Miss USA pageant this year because they lacked in the face ... this according to ex-Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin.

Miss USA organization sources gave TMZ text messages it claims Sheena sent to a pageant official during the Miss USA competition ... in which Sheena first says the competition was rigged.


In the text exchange, Sheena writes, "Colorado? South Carolina? I'm done. This is ridiculous. It's obviously rigged so the girl they want can shine; they kept several beautiful girls out for that reason."

Miss USA sources believe the text messages show Sheena's conspiracy theory is emotionally-motivated ... NOT based on any facts ... and is therefore BS.

Sheena has recently claimed she learned another contestant saw a secret Miss USA document which contained the names of the Top 5 finalists before they were announced ... and even though Sheena never personally saw the document, she refuses to admit she could be wrong. 

(The Miss Universe organization has filed a defamation claim against Sheena for making the allegation.)

The texts don't exactly disprove Sheena's rigged theory -- but they DO show how shamelessly catty pageants are behind the scenes.


Calls to Monnin, Miss CO Marybel Gonzalez, and Miss SC Erika Powell were not returned.

For the record, we think they're hot.

Donald Trump delivered as promised -- the Miss Universe organization has officially filed 2 crushing legal claims against ex-Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin ... for saying the pageant's a fraud.

TMZ broke the story ... Miss Universe owner Donald Trump gave Monnin a 24-hour ultimatum to retract her statements that pageant winners are predetermined -- but Monnin refused.

So this morning, one of Donald's lawyers tells TMZ, the Miss Universe Organization -- Miss USA's parent company -- has filed docs to take the matter before a private arbitrator, and he intends to go after Monnin for all she's worth.

The action was not filed as a formal lawsuit in court because of a stipulation in Monnin's contract -- which requires any dispute to be handled through private arbitration, and only if it can't be worked out there can it be filed in court.

We're told the Miss Universe team has filed two separate causes of action -- breaching the contract by talking trash about the pageant and a second claim for defamation.  How much are they going for? We're told, "Significant damages."

Attempts to reach Monnin were unsuccessful.

Ex-Miss Pennsylvania insists the list of top 5 Miss USA contestants she was told about perfectly matched the eventual top 5 -- but sources connected with the pageant tell TMZ her math is way off ... because only one name matched.

Sheena Monnin isn't backing down from her claim Miss U. is fixed -- on "NBC Today" she said, "It's too coincidental for someone to be able to call out in order the top 5. I know what I heard there is no doubt in my mind that the contestant is serious when she laid out what she saw."

Monnin claims Miss Florida told her she saw a list of the top 5 before they were announced -- and although Miss FL now says she was joking ... Monnin says, "I have many years of psychological training. I know when someone is scared and serious. Her body language was serious."

But pageant sources tell us the list Miss Florida saw had only ONE name of the eventual top 5 finalists -- which pokes a huge hole in Monnin's story. As TMZ first reported, lawyers for pageant owner Donald Trump are currently drafting a defamation lawsuit against Monnin.

By the way, Monnin's psych training consists of a master's degree ... from the University of Phoenix.

 Miss Florida Karina Brez, tells TMZ, "I want to make a statement, very firm and very clearly, that I did not at any time tell Miss Pennsylvania USA or other Miss USA contestants that I knew the final five contestants in the Pageant."

Brez adds, "For reasons I don't understand, my name is now being brought forward as the person who released the names and implied that the Final Five contestants were pre-selected. This is absolutely not true, and not the case."

Never say Donald Trump isn't a man of his word -- we're told the Miss USA owner is going forward with legal action against ex-Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin ... for saying the pageant is fixed.

TMZ broke the story ... Donald issued a 24-hour ultimatum yesterday -- apologize and retract her statements that the Miss USA pageant predetermines its winners ... or face a lawsuit.

Well, Sheena didn't retract squat -- and now our sources say Donald's lawyers are meeting to draft a defamation lawsuit.

It's unclear when the suit will be filed.