Posted on 10/04/2018 2:48:26 AM PDT by grundle
The New York Times claims that it just found information which proves that Donald Trump broke the law regarding his taxes. Trump responded by threatening to sue the paper for defamation if they published this information.
Here’s the great thing about defamation law: even if Trump does carry out his threat and files the lawsuit, the only thing the New York Times needs in order to defend itself is for its claim about Trump to be true. As long that the Times’s claim is true, there is nothing that Trump can do to the paper.
Trump is against defamation, which involves saying things that are false.
By comparison, the Obama administration tried to prevent the media from publishing things that were true.
Here are 11 different real world examples of this, as documented in my book The Least Transparent Administration in History.
1) Tried to silence criticism of auto-bailouts
The Obama administration pressured Ford Motor Company to stop airing a TV ad that criticized Obama’s bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler.
2) Complained to YouTube about an anti-Muslim video
In September 2012, the Obama administration phoned YouTube to complain about an anti-Muslim video.
Ben Wizner of the ACLU said that of this
“It does make us nervous when the government throws its weight behind any requests for censorship.”
Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said of this
“I am actually kind of distressed by this… Even though there are all these great quotes from inside the White House saying they support free speech….by calling YouTube from the White House, they were sending a message no matter how much they say we don’t want them to take it down, when the White House calls and asks you to review it, it sends a message and has a certain chilling effect.”
3) Tried to censor the Washington Post
In August 2013, the Washington Post reported:
The Obama administration referred all questions for this article to John DeLong, the NSA’s director of compliance, who answered questions freely in a 90-minute interview. DeLong and members of the NSA communications staff said he could be quoted “by name and title” on some of his answers after an unspecified internal review. The Post said it would not permit the editing of quotes. Two days later, White House and NSA spokesmen said that none of DeLong’s comments could be quoted on the record and sent instead a prepared statement in his name. The Post declines to accept the substitute language as quotations from DeLong.
4) Tried to censor the AFL-CIO
In September 2013, Associated Press reported:
The AFL-CIO on Wednesday approved a resolution critical of parts of President Barack Obama’s health care law in spite of efforts by White House officials to discourage the labor federation from making its concerns so prominent.
The strongly worded resolution says the Affordable Care Act will drive up the costs of union-sponsored health plans to the point that workers and employers are forced to abandon them. Labor unions still support the law’s overall goals of reducing health costs and bringing coverage to all Americans, the resolution says, but adds that the law is being implemented in a way that is “highly disruptive” to union health care plans.
Some individual unions have complained about the law’s impact for months. The resolution marks the first time the nation’s largest labor federation has gone on record embracing that view. Unions were among the most enthusiastic backers of the law when it passed in 2010.
A labor official told The Associated Press that White House officials had been calling labor leaders for days to urge them not to voice their concerns in the form of a resolution.
5) Tried to censor a book about the “Fast and Furious” scandal
In October 2013, the ACLU announced that it would be defending John Dodson’s first amendment right to free speech, against the Obama administration, which was trying to prevent Dodson from publishing a book about Obama’s “Fast and Furious” scandal.
6) Told reporters to stop reporting his low poll numbers
In Decmember 2013, Joel Benenson, Obama’s pollster, told reporters to stop reporting Obama’s low poll numbers.
7) Tried to censor the Center for American Progress
In March 2014, it was reported that the Obama administration had called the Center for American Progress to complain about its accurate report that Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan had more troops than the highest number during Bush’s presidency.
8) Tried to censor the ACLU and NAACP
In March 2014, it was reported that the ACLU and the NAACP had criticized the Obama administration’s proposal for new regulations that would restrict the speech of non-profit organizations during election campaigns.
9) Prohibited members of the media from bringing cameras or audio recorders when they visited a shelter housing illegal aliens
In July 2014, it was reported that Obama had prohibited members of the media from bringing cameras or audio recorders when they visited a shelter housing illegal aliens.
10) Illegally tried to block a Freedom of Information release of the video that showed Michael Brown committing theft and assault
On August 15, 2014, NRP reported:
[Ferguson Police Chief Thomas] Jackson said he had gotten numerous Freedom of Information Act requests from the media to release the video. “I had to release it,” he said.
“I had been sitting on it and too many people put in FOIA requests for it and I had to release it,” he said.
On August 16, 2014, CBS News reported:
Feds opposed releasing Ferguson robbery video
Federal authorities opposed Friday’s release of a surveillance video showing a man resembling Michael Brown committing a robbery at a convenience store in Ferguson, Mo., CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports.
The Justice Department asked Ferguson police not to release the video, believing that it would roil the community further, and were able to successfully prevent the video from being released Thursday, the U.S. law enforcement official said.
Friday’s release occurred over the objection of federal authorities, the official said.
Here is the video that Obama illegally tried to prevent people from seeing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2z5-H8NSGA
11) Ordered reporters to stop filming Michelle Obama on a public sidewalk at Martha’s Vineyard
In August 2014, the Obama administration ordered reporters to stop filming Michelle Obama on a public sidewalk at Martha’s Vineyard.
That dude is a trip, isn’t he?
N-o-o-o-o, he didnt do that....he just unleashed the full force of the DOJ, in the person of AG Eric Holder to pounce on Fox reporter James Rosen ......
AND to intimidate Rosen's family.Holder and Obama issued a court order for Fox News reporter James Rosen's emails,
labeling Rosen a criminal "co-conspirator" under The Espionage Act.
=========================================
theguardian.com
Circa 2013
The Justice Department did more than seize a Fox News reporter’s emails while suggesting he was a criminal “co-conspirator” in a leak case — it did so under one of the most serious wartime laws in America, the Espionage Act. It is now well known that the Obama justice department has prosecuted more government leakers under the 1917 Espionage Act than all prior administrations combined - in fact, double the number of all such prior prosecutions. But as last week’s controversy over the Obama DOJ’s pursuit of the phone records of AP reporters illustrated, this obsessive fixation in defense of secrecy also targets, and severely damages, journalists specifically and the news-gathering process in general.
New revelations emerged yesterday in the Washington Post that are perhaps the most extreme yet when it comes to the DOJ’s attacks on press freedoms. It involves the prosecution of State Department adviser Stephen Kim, a naturalized citizen from South Korea who was indicted in 2009 for allegedly telling Fox News’ chief Washington correspondent, James Rosen, that US intelligence believed North Korea would respond to additional UN sanctions with more nuclear tests - something Rosen then reported. Kim did not obtain unauthorized access to classified information, nor steal documents, nor sell secrets, nor pass them to an enemy of the US. Instead, the DOJ alleges that he merely communicated this innocuous information to a journalist - something done every day in Washington - and, for that, this arms expert and long-time government employee faces more than a decade in prison for “espionage”.
The focus of the Post’s report yesterday is that the DOJ’s surveillance of Rosen, the reporter, extended far beyond even what they did to AP reporters. The FBI tracked Rosen’s movements in and out of the State Department, traced the timing of his calls, and - most amazingly - obtained a search warrant to read two days worth of his emails, as well as all of his emails with Kim. In this case, said the Post, “investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material.” It added that “court documents in the Kim case reveal how deeply investigators explored the private communications of a working journalist”.
But what makes this revelation particularly disturbing is that Obama's DOJ, in order to get this search warrant, insisted that Fox's Rosen - a journalist - committed serious crimes. The DOJ specifically argued that by encouraging his source to disclose classified information - something investigative journalists do every day - Rosen himself broke the law. Describing an affidavit from FBI agent Reginald Reyes filed by the DOJ, the Post reports [emphasis added]:
“Reyes wrote that there was evidence Rosen had broken the law, ‘at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator’. That fact distinguishes his case from the probe of the AP, in which the news organization is not the likely target. Using italics for emphasis, Reyes explained how Rosen allegedly used a ‘covert communications plan’ and quoted from an e-mail exchange between Rosen and Kim that seems to describe a secret system for passing along information. . . .
However, it remains an open question whether it’s ever illegal, given the First Amendment’s protection of press freedom, for a reporter to solicit information.
No reporter, including Rosen, has been prosecuted for doing so.”
Under US law, it is not illegal to publish classified information. That fact, along with the First Amendment’s guarantee of press freedoms, is what has prevented the US government from ever prosecuting journalists for reporting on what the US government does in secret. This newfound theory of the Obama DOJ - that a journalist can be guilty of crimes for “soliciting” the disclosure of classified information - is a means for circumventing those safeguards and criminalizing the act of investigative journalism itself.
These latest revelations show that this is not just a theory but one put into practice, b/c the Obama DOJ submitted court documents accusing a journalist of committing crimes by doing this.—SNIP—
Review the tax schemes of nyt owners. A false balance is an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 11:1
Not for nothing but I’m pretty sure if it’s in print it’s called libel.
In general, there are four defenses to libel or slander: truth, consent, accident, and privilege. The fact that the allegedly defamatory communication is essentially true is usually an absolute defense; the defendant need not verify every detail of the communication, as long as its substance can be established. If the plaintiff consented to publication of the defamatory material, recovery is barred. Accidental publication of a defamatory statement does not constitute publication. Privilege confers Immunity on a small number of defendants who are directly involved in the furtherance of the public’s business—for example, attorneys, judges, jurors, and witnesses whose statements are protected on public policy grounds.
—The Free Dictionary, under “Libel & Slander”
Just goes to show ya....when you need to know what the Rats are up to “behind the scenes” just listen to what they’re accusing Republicans of doing.
Slander is spoken, libel is printed, defamation covers both.
bookmark
Whatever happens l hope Kavanugh goes after Ford and her Rat assassins with every legal recourse. these people have destroyed a 30 year reputation and career.
11) Ordered reporters to stop filming Moochelle on a public sidewalk at Martha’s Vineyard.
The Mooch must have soiled and then discarded his panties that day, and his junk was visibly bouncing around under a thin fabric.
There are similar pics and videos to this effect on Algor’s ‘net, ya know. I’d post an example if I knew how.
#11: Please stop the videos of Michelle’s floppy trouser sausage.
0bama: brown acid.
Bookmarked.
He should!
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