Posted on 05/11/2007 7:32:14 AM PDT by rface
SANDLE, REIFF and YOUNG, P.C.
50 E Street, S.E., Suite 300
Washington DC 20003
Telephone: 202.479.XXXX FAX: 202.479.XXXX
May 10, 2007
VIA E-Mail
Mr. James C Robinson FreeRepublic.com PO Box 9771 Fresno, CA 93794
Re: Statement re Democratic National Committee
Dear Mr Robinson:
We are writing on behalf of our client, the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
A post by “coffee260” on FreeRepublic.com today states that this morning, on the Quinn & Rose show on XM, co-host Quin stated that the DNC chairman, Gov. Howard Dean had called Gov Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kans) “around 5:00am on morning after a tornado destroyed the town of Greensburg, Kansas and discussed with here what to say about the tornado and how to blame the war in Iraq and the Bush administration on a slow response to the aftermath.”
The statement was made by Mr Quinn, repeated on FreeRepublic, is demonstrably, unequivocally and absolutely false. Gov Dean had no such conversation with Gov Sebelius, ever.
No effort was made by FreeRepublic to contact anyone at the DNC for comment or to check the accuracy of these statements before they were published. FreeRepublic not only repeated this statement, but further stressed that Quinn’s “source” was extremely reliable and in a position that would give him direct knowledge of these revelations.
The statements quoted above are false and defamatory, are libelous and slanderous and clearly threaten to interfere with the DNC’s operations and ability to solicit support and raise funds by predjuding the organization in the eyes of the Democratic Party supporters and the public. For these reasons, we demand that FreeRepublic immediately cease and desist from Further dissemination of the above quoted statements or any statements similar in substance and immediately post a retraction of these statements in a location on its web pages at least as prominent as that on which the original story appeared.
Please let us know by noon, May 11, 2007, whether you intend to comply with these requests.
Thanks for your time and immediate attention to this important matter.
Sincerely yours,
(Signature)
Joseph E Sandler
Interesting.
They most certainly have such a right.
I also have the right to demand that Joseph E Sandler stop French kissing my dog.
OK. So the story is still could be true. Remember, Quinn said a person TOLD him this story. It is quite possible that a person DID tell him this story.
I think he’s allowed to repeat any story he hears, so long as he doesn’t say he knows it to be a true story.
Is the "meaning of 'is'" angle on this that the communication was relayed between aides? That would account for the ability to deny a direct conversation while someone in the know claiming it happened.
Howard Dean never misses an opportunity to smear the republicans. This arrogant attack using the guise of the “not enough national guard” is perhaps the lowest of all things he has done. He should he placed under arrest, and charged with the same criminal charges Tokyo Rose was charged with. I have never, ever in all my 52 years seen such crap!
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
What if every FReeper posts a thread on what was said on Quinn’s show that Howard Dean talked to Governor Sebelius about blaming Bush over the tornado? That would be funny. Thread after thread posted by different posters on the same, slanderous story.
Can anyone IMAGINE the RNC whining to DU or Kos about the accuracy of the millions of unverified things they claim Bush has said or done?
Oddly, now that we know that all parties to the “conversation” have denied it, we will stop saying it happened, because we are sane people.
The DNC didn’t need to issue ANY letters, they simply had to get Howard and Selebius to make statements denying the conversation. That simple.
Of course, the lefties the DNC works with never drop lies when they are proven false, so maybe they are just used to having to sue people to get them to clam up.
This is interesting. They seem to spend more time here on FR than I do. I knew Free Republic was good, but I didn’t know it was THAT good.
So when the AP runs a headline "Bush lied" (in quotes) and then cites a prominent Democrat MAKING that charge, we can get the GOP to charge AP with saying "Bush lied"?
Citation was provided. It was a QUOTE.
FR must be making some good points for the DNC to try to take down this site. Maybe they still feel the sting of the SacBee lawsuit.
The DNC’s motivation here is to discover the source of the leak. Since it was a private conversation, it has to be someone in the office of one of the two present at the time of the conversation, or, the conversation was illegally recorded.
The problem is Quinn says he source does not want to be outed. Quinn has to out the person, who will probably deny it, or he will be called a liar and sued. If it was a recording, someone is going to jail.
The DNC wins either way. This is going to be a problem for Quinn and the radio station.
You are assuming the law suit threat didn't have an affect. It is quite possible Brownback said some things that he doesn't want repeated. A lawsuit would mean discovery.
Moveon.org eh?
Mouthpiece for the democrat extremists, of course, but how do they “count” as far as “contributions in effect” - the Washington democrats sued to get a radio show shut down for “contributing” to the republicans by talking about a democrat scandal before the election.
See, if moveon.org gets unlimited and unregulated and anonymous contributions (from Soros or other overseas funds and governments) that are/are not tax deductable, then THEY can “contribute” to advertising and political tactics like this for “free” for their democrats.
Assuming this cease and desist letter is real, of course........
I find it hard to believe is it accurate, given that not only did Dean and Selebius deny it, but also Sam Brownback.
So the only person we have involved in either conversation that says the conversation took place is some anonymous but “trusted” source. If Brownback had said a conversation did take place, I might still believe it even though the other two parties denied it. But I can’t imagine Brownback denying a conversation took place at all, if there was a conversation.
In fact, I thought for a moment that, with the push for the fairness doctrine, this could well have been a planted story just to stir up more calls in the media for “control over what is said on the airwaves” because false stuff gets around so quickly.
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