Meanwhile, outside the environment of investing:
<<XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUESDAY MAY 01, 2001 16:01:01 ET XXXXX MAY DAY: LAWSUIT AGAINST DRUDGE DROPPED; BLUMENTHAL PAYS CASH TO GET OUT!
Former Clinton White House aide Sidney Blumenthal today dropped his $30 million lawsuit against the DRUDGE REPORT and editor Matt Drudge after agreeing to a settlement which requires Blumenthal to pay cash to Drudge's attorneys.
"This frivolous lawsuit, which was approved by a sitting president and vice president of the United States, comes to its wimpy conclusion with Mr. Blumenthal, I repeat, Mr. Blumenthal cutting a check," Drudge said. "In return, I pay him nothing, and have agreed not to countersue."
The 100+ page suit made front page headlines worldwide and was considered a "test case" for the development of Internet libel law.
Drudge continued:
"Through our investigation of this case, evidence emerged and witnesses were found that would have knocked this lawsuit out cold if it ever got to a jury. My initial dispatch in the Summer of '97 reporting rumors of Mr. Blumenthal's past would have been rolled out in detail."
After nearly four years of litigation, Blumenthal rushed to settle the case after Drudge filed a motion to dismiss the suit for lack of merit and to recover attorneys' fees.
Sounding a personal May Day cry, Blumenthal went to the courthouse today to sign settlement papers and withdraw the case.
Through twists and turns, from a battle over jurisdiction to a clash over the privilege to protect confidential sources [Federal Judge Paul Friedman ruled early in the case that Drudge "was not a reporter, news gatherer or journalist"], the lawsuit pitted the White House against an individual reporter.
"This result vindicates our position that, in defamation cases, the First Amendment's protection extends to individuals operating in new mediums, no less than to traditional journalists in corporate newsrooms," said Drudge's lead attorney Manny Klausner.
"I am forever in debt to my attorneys, to all those who contributed to the DRUDGE REPORT legal defense fund and to David Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture," said Drudge.
"It was a Clinton-approved lawsuit, which was filed by Clinton's right-hand man, being heard before a Clinton-appointed judge. But all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't bring the DRUDGE REPORT to an untimely end!">> |
