Posted on 12/30/2008 1:19:39 PM PST by abb
Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman has filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for a February article about Iseman and her relationship with Sen. John McCain.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond on Tuesday, alleges the article falsely communicated that Iseman and McCain had an illicit “romantic” relationship in 1999 when he was chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and she was a lobbyist representing clients before Congress.
The suit also names the executive editor of the Times, its Washington bureau chief and four reporters who wrote the story as defendants.
William Keller, the paper’s executive editor, did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment on the suit.
Richmond lawyer W. Coleman Allen Jr. and Rodney M. Smolla, dean of the Washington & Lee law school and a First Amendment scholar, represent Iseman. The story was first reported online by Virginia Lawyers Weekly, an LIBN sister publication.
The 36-page complaint charges that the story implies an “unprofessional relationship” between Iseman and McCain.
Both Iseman and McCain denied any improper relationship. However, the public viewed the story as being about an affair, according to the suit, which cites the post-publication remarks of 10 different commentators across the political spectrum. In each case, their comments about the story assumed it was about an alleged affair, the lawyers noted.
The Times’ own public editor, Clark Hoyt, published what Allen called a “blistering attack” on the Times’ decision to publish the original Iseman article.
The suit claims that Iseman suffered damage to her mental, emotional and physical health. The lawyers noted that she continues to work as a lobbyist in Washington, for a firm based in Arlington. They said they anticipate developing their case on damages as the matter moves forward.
The piece was published at the height of the primary season last winter, and, the suit states, the defendants knew that it would “reverberate around the world.”
“In their attack on Senator McCain, the [defendants] were willing to sacrifice Ms. Iseman as acceptable collateral damage, recklessly indifferent to the avalanche of scorn, derision and ridicule Ms. Iseman would suffer,” the suit charges.
Iseman waited to file the suit until after the presidential election, in an effort to avoid influencing its outcome, her lawyers said.
Click here to read the full text of the complaint in Iseman v. The New York Times Co. Inc.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003925875
No Bull: 2008 — The Year Newspaper Stocks Collapsed
I hope she takes them to the cleaners.
I gotta figure any judgement against the NYT would come from their insurance company. I don't know what the payout cap is, but I hope they are held accountable. I suspect this lady is out of luck as the pos's at the NYT will probably be able to skate having written such an irresponsible hit piece.
Please don't take this to mean I support the NYT or think the collateral damage they find acceptable is, but I do believe in freedom of the press so I kinda hope at some level the NYT wins the suit but the free market punishes them.
Gifford :)
Go Vicki Go.
Get some!
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-inside-job/2008/12/30/vicki-iseman-sues-the-new-york-times.html
Vicki Iseman Sues the New York Times
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/lobbyist-sues-new-york-times-over-mccain-affair-story-2008-12-30.html
Lobbyist sues New York Times over McCain affair story
http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/1208/Lobbyist_Iseman_sues_NYT_for_27_million.html
Lobbyist Iseman sues NYT for $27 million
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/12/30/lobbyist-hits-nyt-with-defamation-suit-over-mccain-article/
Lobbyist Hits NYT With Defamation Suit over McCain Article
She’s gotta prove malice, right? That’s doable..the Times has a proven track record of trying to destroy McCain...this will be interesting.
That little jig at the end there is a text book example of a dead cat bounce.
Re: “She may end up owning a Dead Newspaper.”
Nothing wrong with that... just slice and dice and sell off anything of value... seeing the Times squirm and crumble would be sweet.
Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman has filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for a February article about Iseman and her relationship with Sen. John McCain... The suit also names the executive editor of the Times, its Washington bureau chief and four reporters who wrote the story as defendants... Richmond lawyer W. Coleman Allen Jr. and Rodney M. Smolla, dean of the Washington & Lee law school and a First Amendment scholar, represent Iseman.The chickens have come home to roost, partisan media shills!
It’s about darn time.
Actually no. Newspapers in the US have been masters off tying libel cases up in court until the plaintiff runs out of money. Lets see how long the MSM can continue to pull that off in their CURRENT economic condition.
With this in mind, the falsely accused in the Duke Lacrosse frame might be able to have afield day, given some sectors of the failing MSM are still to this day carrying water for Mangum.
I’m actually on the fence with this one. On the one hand I want her to win so she can help put another nail in the NYT coffin. On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind seeing the NYT prove the affair so that it ruins putz McCain’s marriage and his chances for reelection.
I originally missed the threads about this here, but happened to see it on trutv.com and then came back and checked.
I hope that is a dead cat bounce.
Dead cat bounce is the most dangerous bet, Reno has better odds of a hit.
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