‘Watch them reach for the 1st Amendment. “Protected political opinions.”’
They’ll probably try, but just as in the Alex Jones case, the 1st Amendment is probably not much of an issue, since it does not protect libelous speech. So if you can prove libel, then the 1st Amendment is irrelevant. And if you can’t prove libel, then the case is dead anyway, so the 1st Amendment is also irrelevant.
Patel will have a high bar to reach though, since he is a public figure. So he’ll have to prove actual malice; not just that Politico made false statements, but that they were knowingly false and made with the intent to harm him.
Correct, IMO.