On Wednesday, Mr. Bolling took a first step toward a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Ali by filing a summons that cited what it described as Mr. Ali’s “efforts to injure the plaintiff’s reputation through the intentional and/or highly reckless publication of actionable false and misleading statements about the plaintiff’s conduct and character.” Mr. Bolling seeks at least $50 million in reputational, monetary and punitive damages and other costs.
Addressing the legal standard for defamation, Ms. Glaser asserted that Mr. Ali had conducted a thorough investigation before publishing the article and that there was no evidence of actual malice. She added that Mr. Bolling was a public figure and not entitled to damages.
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“We welcome the opportunity to depose Mr. Bolling and review his message history, as we presume that you have instructed him to preserve communications,” Ms. Glaser said.
HuffPost was not named in the summons, but the news organization has said it had would stand by Mr. Ali financially.
In the letter, Ms. Glaser attacked Mr. Bolling’s tactics to target Mr. Ali personally as a “calculated effort to harass and intimidate Mr. Ali personally.” She added, “Continuing litigation will only reveal that Mr. Bolling’s lawsuit was filed for public relations purposes and to retaliate against Mr. Ali for uncovering the truth.”
Ms. Glaser has previously represented Rush Limbaugh, Keith Olbermann and Ryan Seacrest. Mr. Bolling, who was most recently a host of “The Fox News Specialists,” is represented by Michael J. Bowe of Kasowitz Benson Torres. Marc E. Kasowitz, a partner in that firm, is a longtime personal lawyer for President Trump who has represented Bill O’Reilly, the former Fox News host.
In a statement Friday, Mr. Bowe said: “It is ironic and telling that Ms. Glaser accuses us of a publicity stunt in a letter she has yet to send me and that I learned about from The New York Times. She is right about one thing. No evidence has been produced about these claims, and that is why we filed suit so that the evidence and truth will come out.”
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Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/business/media/fox-news-eric-bolling-defamation-suit.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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