Democratic National Committee v. FreeRepublic [1]

On May 10, 2007, a user on the FreeRepublic forum posted that he had heard on a XM Satellite Radio talk show that DNC Chairman Howard Dean had called Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius asking her to politicize the recovery effort from a tornado in Greensburg, Kansas, by dragging her feet on requesting federal aid and then blaming the lack of response on President Bush.

That same day, the DNC, through counsel, sent a cease-and-desist email to the webmaster of FreeRepublic. The email complained that FreeRepublic had not only repeated the defamatory statements of the radio show host, but indicated that the host's source was "extremely reliable and in a position that would give him direct knowledge of these revelations." The email asserted that the statements were "false and defamatory," "libelous and slanderous," and "clearly threaten to interfere with the DNC’s operations and ability to solicit support and raise funds." The email demanded that FreeRepublic remove the defamatory statements and post a prominent retraction.

The FreeRepublic did not remove the statements, and there is no indication that the DNC has taken any further action.

Incidentally, the DNC also sent a cease-and-desist letter [2] to XM Satellite Radio, complaining about the original radio show broadcast. XM posted audio [3] clips [4] of the show on its website, but it does not appear that the DNC sent them a cease-and-desist letter in regard to that posting.