-Caveat Lector-
IT WASN'T JUST DRUDGE
By Dick Morris
New York Post-May 8, 2001
SPIN, counterattack, discrediting witnesses and outright lying were part
of the Clinton administration's orchestrated attack on dissident
journalists. Beneath these tactics lay chilling attempts to use the
legal system to punish reporters who got too near the truth.
The most visible attempt at using libel suits to frighten the press was
the $30 million lawsuit by former White House staffer Sydney Blumenthal
against Internet journalist Matt Drudge.
Drudge corrected the story immediately after publication. In most
jurisdictions, that is enough to preclude a libel suit. But Blumenthal,
with the support of then-President Clinton, filed a lawsuit anyway.
Four years later, with Clinton out of office, Blumenthal has suddenly
agreed to drop the suit, and even to pay $2,500 to the reporter's
lawyers. This sudden willingness to walk away shows the full mendacity
of the litigation. It was designed to hamper a persistent Clinton
critic.
It worked. Drudge was dragged through the media mill, exposed to (by his
count) 3,700 separate articles discussing the suit and speculating on
the reporter's culpability. CNN mentioned the suit in 24 different
stories; USA Today reported on it 10 times. The avalanche of negative
publicity forced Drudge to play defense, to the detriment of his ability
to report on Clinton.
I felt the hammer blows of legal intimidation personally when I received
two threatening letters from lawyers for Clinton operatives as a result
of my commentary critical of the administration on the Fox News Channel
and in this newspaper.
The first came from a lawyer representing Jack Palladino, a private
detective who was hired by the '92 Clinton campaign to dig up dirt on
women who were likely to accuse Clinton of having sex with them. I
called him a member of Clinton's secret police; his attorney demanded a
retraction and apology. A few months later, I criticized Pentagon
employee Ken Bacon for improperly releasing Linda Tripp's personnel
file, an act U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lambreth later found to be
a privacy violation. I got a letter, this time from Bacon's lawyer,
demanding a retraction.
In both cases, the threats were dropped when my attorney provided full
documentation for the statements I had made. Neither a retraction nor an
apology was needed.
These suits and threats of suit hold reporters of modest means at bay.
When public officials drop these suits after they have served their
intimidating purpose, thus admitting their lack of merit, the public
should note how the free press has been used and abused.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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