Arpaio Sues CNN, Rolling Stone, HuffPost For Coverage Of Contempt Conviction

[Gothmog]

Source: Talking Points Memo

Former Maricopa County sheriff and presidential pardon recipient Joe Arpaio sued several news organizations and journalists for defamation and false light on Monday for allegedly misreporting the details of his contempt of court conviction.

But at least two of the three errors Apraio cited have been corrected, contrary to his suit’s claims.

In July 2017, Arpaio was convicted of contempt of court, a misdemeanor, for continuing his practice of targeting immigrants with traffic stops, defying a judge’s order. A month later, President Donald Trump issued the first pardon of his administration to Arpaio, saying that his “life and career … exemplify selfless public service.”

In the 10-page filing in Washington, D.C. District Court on Monday, Arpaio cites one CNN TV segment and articles from Rolling Stone and HuffPost, accusing them of recklessly getting the details of his case wrong. He also accuses them of failing to issue corrections — which is untrue, at least for Rolling Stone and HuffPost.

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/arpaio-lawsuit-cnn-rolling-stone-huffpost

[Gothmog]

1. Larry Klayman is representing Arpaio in this bogus lawsuit

Link to tweet

[SunSeeker]

3. Larry Klayman should be disbarred.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Larry Klayman again.

I don’t understand why that guy hasn’t been disbarred yet.

[Hortensis]

4. I was wondering who was paying. Probably out of

Klayman's advertising budget.

[Gothmog]

13. It is a ten page pleading

This pleading is a joke

[Hortensis]

14. :) Of course. This whole period of Republican

ascendance is a lesson in how how often evil, negligence, and incompetence are a scumbag package.

[vsrazdem]

5. Arpaio needs to STFU and go away. Nobody in Arizona or anywhere else wants to hear from him.

[DFW]

6. Yeah, the press is free to report whatever I want them to!!

Fox Noise excepted, of course.

[SpankMe]

7. This is a win-win, guys

First win - his suit won't get past the first judge who sees it. It's too absurd to proceed.

Second win - if his suit proceeds anyway, then it sets a precedent for a whole slew of lawsuits against Fox News, Breitbart, InfoWars and other right wing outlets that have lied and defamed their way through the years. They can be sued out of business just like Hulk Hogan sued Gawker out.

Consolation prize: If the suit proceeds forward despite the shaky grounds, it will set up an acceptable climate for these media outlets to counter-sue for the false allegations that Arpaio put forward.

[Solly Mack]

8. He's like an incurable STD

[jmowreader]

12. Absolutely not. He's nothing like an STD.

If the act that brought you the STD was consensual, getting an STD is fun. Nothing about Arpaio is anything close to being fun.

If Arpaio is a disease, he's gangrene - the only way to get rid of gangrene is to cut off the part that's infected.

[Solly Mack]

15. The whole at least I had fun while getting an incurable venereal disease

isn't something I can relate to - so...I don't know how to respond.

[benld74]

9. Suit thrown out of ourt in 3,2,1,,,,,

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Isn't All This Unprovable?

In order to be defamation, doesn't it have to be done with knowledge that the information was wrong or incomplete?

How would he prove that these news outlets knew something they say they didn't know?

[Racerdog1]

11. Really?

This fucking asshole is what, 85 years old? Yeah go ahead file your suit. You will be rotting in your grave before this shit gets heard.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

17. Arpaio is 86 years old.

He's suing for $300 million, claiming that his reputation has been damaged (Joe - your reputation isn't worth $300 million.) and that all of this defamation has hurt his chances when he runs for Senate (or other office) in 2020.

I think he's spent too much time in the Arizona sun.

[mpcamb]

16. Larry's as contemptible as Arpaio.