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Can Private Lawsuits Rein in Government-Media Tyranny?
Townhall.com ^ | February 7, 2020 | William Marshall

Posted on 02/07/2020 3:22:15 AM PST by Kaslin

What do you do when federal government agents manufacture false rumors that you’re a Russian spy? What if they then launch a phony counterintelligence investigation against a US presidential candidate? What do you do when the mainstream media, weirdly allied with corrupt government officials, furthers their lies about you? Or what if the media accuses an innocent high school student of being a racist, selectively editing a video of said teenager to further that falsehood - all because he’s wearing a MAGA hat? What if you are innocent and state prosecutors charge you with second degree murder based on a fake “witness” they surely know is a fraud?

These are the questions that our surreal times pose. We live in an age in which it has become apparent the government is terrifyingly abusive of the people it ostensibly serves. And of even greater concern, the media, which is supposed to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,” is hell-bent on protecting that abusive government.

It seems that in the year 2020, the way forward becomes clear. The answer to these abuses by the government and their cohorts in the Deep State Media may be through successful private litigation.

An early victory in this new battlefront may have already been won. Nick Sandmann, the MAGA hat-wearing teenager from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, had the misfortune of being approached by a Native American activist named Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial in January 2019 during a pro-life school field trip. Phillips was there as part of an Indigenous People’s March and began beating a drum in Sandmann’s face. Video and reporting of the interaction between Sandmann and Phillips was initially misrepresented to imply that Sandmann had somehow approached Phillips in an aggressive manner, and was part of a racist mob no less! Phillips would later tell the gullible and eager media that the high school students were “attacking” several members of the Black Hebrew Israelites. Soon enough, more expansive, unedited video would show neither aggression nor racism by Sandmann and his classmates.

Chief among the media distorters were CNN, the Washington Post and NBC, who were collectively sued for defamation by Sandmann for aggregate damages of $800 million for their shameful misreporting. Guess what? CNN settled with Messr. Sandmann for an undisclosed sum. That is a signal victory, not only for Nick Sandmann, but for all Americans who have been routinely slandered as racists, xenophobes, bigots and countless other epithets simply because they supported Donald Trump and the traditional, patriotic values he espouses. Let’s see what the Washington Post and NBC decide in dealing with their lawsuits, as well as potentially an additional 12 media defendants Sandmann’s attorneys may sue. Their litigation may go a long way toward convincing the Fourth Estate to be more responsible in its journalistic mission.

A reputed government agent, Stefan Halper, in addition to media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal (in the form of its parent company, Dow Jones), NBC Universal and the Washington Post, was named by British academic Svetlana Lokhova in a defamation suit she brought in Virginia alleging that Mr. Halper launched a smear campaign against Lokhova, insinuating she was a Russian spy while working at Cambridge University, and was romantically involved with Gen. Michael Flynn. Ms. Lokhova strongly rejected the allegations. Her suit alleges that her career was irreparably damaged by the slander. If her case succeeds, it may give operatives working for the federal government, if in fact that’s what Mr. Halper was, as Ms. Lokhova alleges, pause before embarking on campaigns of reputational destruction of innocent parties targeted by our government.

Such abuse of government power, however, can occur at the local level as well, based on allegations contained in another lawsuit, brought by George Zimmerman in Florida. Zimmerman was the hapless community watch volunteer who had the misfortune to encounter Trayvon Martin on a rainy night in Sanford, Florida in February 2012. As Zimmerman sought to aid police in locating Martin, who was lurking suspiciously in Zimmerman’s housing complex which had suffered from serial burglaries, Martin viciously assaulted him without provocation. While receiving blows "MMA style," according to one eyewitness, and getting his head pounded into the concrete by Martin, Zimmerman drew his legally possessed handgun and shot Martin, killing him.

After being exonerated by a thorough police investigation, Zimmerman was charged and prosecuted for second-degree murder when a mysterious "phone witness" appeared out of nowhere claiming Zimmerman was the aggressor. The recently released fascinating book and movie by the same name, The Trayvon Hoax, proves this witness, Rachel Jeantel, was a complete fraud. Rachel Jeantel took the stand at Zimmerman’s trial and pretended to have been on the phone with Trayvon Martin just prior to his death. Gilbert's film proves in fact the real girl on the phone was Jeantel's half- sister, Brittany Diamond Eugene. Gilbert's research also provides conclusive evidence that Brittany Diamond Eugene was the girl who had spoken to Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump in a recorded phone call, and it was she who had signed and provided a letter to Travyon's mother Sybrina Fulton as well. When Eugene refused to bear false witness to prosecutors, Rachel Jeantel took her place.

This was serious stuff. The Sanford Police Department had already investigated the events which led to the death of Martin and concluded that Zimmerman had acted in self-defense. But as a result of Jeantel’s allegedly false testimony to prosecutors, Zimmerman was arrested and charged with murder, potentially facing life in prison.

Although her statements managed to get Zimmerman arrested and put on trial, fortunately, Jeantel’s credibility completely collapsed on the witness stand, as she was unable to read the cursive handwriting in the letter to Trayvon’s mother. Zimmerman was acquitted. However, Zimmerman never should have been charged in the first place A recent lawsuit filed by Zimmerman against Jeantel, Eugene, Crump and others, including the prosecutors in the case, the State of Florida and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement alleges that the defendants knowingly conspired to perpetrate the witness fraud and seeks damages for the deprivation of Zimmerman’s civil rights. If successful, the lawsuit may represent a landmark case of an innocent American, who was targeted for destruction by an unholy alliance of corrupt government officials and people seeking profit, fame, and career advancement on a wave of political correctness, fighting back.

It is regrettable that innocent individuals are required to resort to the courts to seek private redress against false claims of being Russian spies, bigots or murderers. But it is even more egregious that government actors would be complicit in furthering the falsehoods, as these lawsuits allege. However, if a few intrepid victims are successful in pushing back against such calumnies, it may go a long way toward righting the behavior of both the media and the government.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: cnn; covington; covingtoncatholic; fakenewsnetwork; nicholassandmann; sandmann; zimmermantrial

1 posted on 02/07/2020 3:22:15 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Sure, the corrupt courts and “justice” system will save and protect us.


2 posted on 02/07/2020 3:35:34 AM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: Kaslin

Just wondering. Why do we have laws that we don’t enforce?
Why don’t Libel/ defamation laws apply to those who LIE?


3 posted on 02/07/2020 3:39:55 AM PST by FES0844
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To: SkyPilot

I am perfectly confident that our media will be chastened and appropriately respond. What it will take is the only question.


4 posted on 02/07/2020 3:57:38 AM PST by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: SkyPilot

Home Depot sells a tool that will fix our media and it is only $14.98.


5 posted on 02/07/2020 3:58:47 AM PST by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: FES0844

There is the ‘public figure’ exemption.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/defamation-public-officials-and-the-media.html


6 posted on 02/07/2020 3:59:47 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Kaslin

I don’t think any amount of money penalty will ever stop them. It’s going to take something a little more persuasive. As long as people like Hillary and Hussein avoid justice there will be none for the rest of us.....


7 posted on 02/07/2020 4:07:06 AM PST by Envisioning (Carry safe, always carry, everyday, everywhere.)
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To: Kaslin

Justice for all works both ways.....


8 posted on 02/07/2020 4:08:12 AM PST by Envisioning (Carry safe, always carry, everyday, everywhere.)
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To: Kaslin
"What if you are innocent and state prosecutors charge you with second degree murder based on a fake “witness” they surely know is a fraud?"

That's pretty much what the democratic Congress did to President Trump.. The prosecutor (shifty Schiff) lied and completely suppressed and exclude any and all exculpatory evidence.. He even made up stuff out of thin air... The very definition of fraud..! Noway in hell should he (they) be allowed to get away with it...

9 posted on 02/07/2020 4:33:24 AM PST by unread (A REPUBLIC..! if you can keep it....)
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To: Elsie

Interesting. Thank you!


10 posted on 02/07/2020 4:38:08 AM PST by FES0844
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To: Kaslin; All
What do you do when the mainstream media, weirdly allied with corrupt government officials,

They are not "weirdly allied". The Progressives in the Media and the Government have been essentially, one entity for the last 50 years, at least.

11 posted on 02/07/2020 4:51:35 AM PST by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: Kaslin

No. The lawsuit has no effect on the application of the laws for other people. The corrupt politicians don’t care how many lawsuits there are. They will keep on marching toward totalitarianism.


12 posted on 02/07/2020 5:23:03 AM PST by I want the USA back (The media is acting full-on as the Democratic Party's press agency now: Robert Spencer)
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To: Envisioning
I don’t think any amount of money penalty will ever stop them. It’s going to take something a little more persuasive. As long as people like Hillary and Hussein avoid justice there will be none for the rest of us.....

Agreed. Until these evil people begin jail terms nothing will change.

13 posted on 02/07/2020 5:29:49 AM PST by Louis Foxwell (A deep and terrible ignorance born of abject corruption is required to hate our president.)
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To: Kaslin
When Eugene refused to bear false witness to prosecutors, Rachel Jeantel took her place.

I bought the video and we watched, Every Last Person involved including the Judge and Prosecutors should have already been ARRESTED AND CHARGED, They deserve nothing less than LIFE IN PRISON. The Documentary has more than enough evidence in it to demonstrate Massive FRAUD, why they haven't been Arrested yet is very telling about the Banana Republic we live in.
14 posted on 02/07/2020 6:05:27 AM PST by eyeamok
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