Protect Democracy org
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11 23 an guk
right-wing election deniers are seeing consequences of their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election by facing a slew of defamation lawsuits, The Guardian reports.}:
Per the report, "Defamation law has traditionally been sparingly used in the US, given the very high bar that plaintiffs have to meet. Under the 1964 supreme court ruling New York Times Co v Sullivan, they have to be able to show 'actual malice' on behalf of the accused.
Rachel Goodman, an attorney with non-partisan advocacy organization Protect Democracy, told The Guardian, said the group's legal action is about "accountability as a way of ensuring that our democracy can get back on track."
Currently, according to the report, Protect Democracy has five ongoing defamation suits "against individuals and outlets who propagated election denial, including ex-President Donald Trump lawyer and former New York mayor Giuliani, the Gateway Pundit and the beleaguered undercover video outfit Project Veritas," as well as conspiracy theorist Dinesh D'Souza, and failed Arizona GOP candidate Kari Lake.
The Guardian notes election denier and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell also faces defamation suits from voting machine technology firms Dominion and Smartmatic.
Per the report, "The lawsuits are designed in part as a strategy of deterrence," as "those pressing the libel suits hope that anyone contemplating a renewed assault on next year's presidential election, in which Trump is once again likely to be the Republican candidate, will look at the potentially devastating costs and think twice."
Giuliani's trial — Protect Democracy's first in its series of defamation suits — is set to take place in federal court in Washington, DC on December 11.
"This is lawfare," Lindell told the Guardian. "Lawfare hasn't been used in our country since the late 1700s, and that's what they are doing."
READ MORE:Lawyers are ditching top Trump allies for not paying their bills: report
The right-wing conspiracy theorist argued, "I have a first amendment right. These defamation cases are damaging free speech – people are afraid to speak out, to come forward with anything."
Goodman emphasized in her interview that "the first amendment does not provide blanket protection for mendacity," saying, "It does not protect those who knowingly spread lies that destroy reputations and lives."
The lawyer added, "We aim to demonstrate that there is no immunity for spreading intentional and reckless lies. Ensuring accountability for intentional defamation is a crucial part of deterring election subversion from happening again in 2024."
:{*:{The Guardian's full report is here (subscription required).}:
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General Inquiries– info@protectdemocracy.orgAnne Applebaum
Author, Senior Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Steven Levitsky
David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government, Harvard University.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Professor of Italian and History, New York University
John McKay
Former United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington
Sheri Berman
Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University
Michael Miller
Professor of Political Science, The George Washington University
Mona Charen
Policy Editor, The Bulwark, Columnist, and Former Speechwriter to First Lady Nancy Reagan
Yascha Mounk
Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins University
Linda Chavez
Chairman, Center for Equal Opportunity, Columnist, and Former White House Director of Public Liaison to President Ronald Reagan
Brendan Nyhan
Presidential Professor of Government, Dartmouth College
Erica Chenoweth
Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment, Harvard Kennedy School
Spencer Overton
Professor of Law, The George Washington University School of Law
Tom Coleman
Former U.S. Representative (R-MO)
Thomas Perrelli
Former Associate Attorney General of the United States
John Dean
Former White House Counsel
Richard Primus
Theodore J. St. Antoine Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
Matthew Dowd
Author, Political Analyst, and Former Chief Strategist, Bush-Cheney 2004
Mickey Edwards
Former U.S. Representative (R-OK)
Jennifer Richeson
Philip R. Allen Professor of Psychology, Yale University
Mindy Finn
CEO, Citizen Data and Founder, Stand Up Republic
Kim Lane Scheppele
Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University
Michael Gottlieb
Former Assistant United States Attorney and Associate White House Counsel
Timothy Snyder
Richard C. Levin Professor of History, Yale University
Aziz Huq
Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law, The University of Chicago Law School
Donald Verrilli
Former Solicitor General of the United States
Marcos Daniel Jiménez
Former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
Kimberly Wehle
Professor of Law, University of Baltimore and Former Associate Independent Counsel in the Whitewater Investigation
Khizr Khan
Lawyer, Constitutional Rights Advocate and Author
Evan Wolfson
Founder, Freedom to Marry
Rachel Kleinfeld
Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Daniel Ziblatt
Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University
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