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Home > Democratic National Committee v. FreeRepublic

Democratic National Committee v. FreeRepublic [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Mon, 09/10/2007 - 15:59

Summary

Threat Type: 

Correspondence

Date: 

05/10/2007

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Withdrawn

Location: 

California

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
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... read full description
Parties

Party Issuing Legal Threat: 

Democratic National Committee

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

James Robinson, on behalf of FreeRepublic.com

Type of Party: 

Organization

Type of Party: 

Organization

Location of Party: 

  • District of Columbia

Location of Party: 

  • California

Legal Counsel: 

Joseph Sandler - Sandler, Rieff, and Young
Description

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.

 

Related Links: 

FreeRepublic: DNC Letter to FreeRepublic: Stop Lying About Howard Dean, and Gov. Sebelius . . . OR ELSE! [5] (posting of the cease-and-desist email)

 

Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

FreeRepublic [6]

FreeRepublic: Howard Dean Told Kansas Gov. Sebelius to Lie [7]

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Forum

Subject Area: 

  • Defamation
  • Third-Party Content
  • Section 230
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • California
CMLP Information (Private)

CMLP Notes: 

David Russcol editing

 

Sam Reviewing

 

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:03pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/democratic-national-committee-v-freerepublic

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/democratic-national-committee-v-freerepublic
[2] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2007-05-10-Letter%20to%20XM%20from%20DNC.pdf
[3] http://www.warroom.com/qandr_break.mp3
[4] http://www.warroom.com/qandr_hannity.mp3
[5] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1831946/posts
[6] http://www.freerepublic.com
[7] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1831454/posts