CORRIDOR CHRONICLE
Judge rules for Blankenship
by Ron Gregory
Charleston — Federal Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, has ruled in favor of Don Blankenship in his defamation lawsuit against CNN, Fox News, ABC, MSNBC, The Washington Post, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and 14 other entities and individuals, denying their motions trying to dismiss his lawsuit.
Blankenship sued the defendants and their reporters and commentators for defamation, for falsely calling him a “felon” and a “convicted felon” during his campaign for US Senate in the 2018 West Virginia primary.
Ruling in Blankenship’s favor, Copenhaver said, “All of the defendants’ statements identifying the plaintiff as a ‘felon’ are materially false.”
He continued, “Based on the applicable law, all challenged statements in this case that identify the [Blankenship] as a ‘felon,’ ‘convicted felon,’ or ‘felonious’ are capable of defamatory meaning because they reflect shame and disgrace on the plaintiff”
The individual reporters of these networks were dismissed but can still be sued in their individual states of residence, Blankenship said.
He went on, “while I am pleased with the ruling and will continue to move the case forward, I hope that Americans begin to recognize that our government and our media have become partners in controlling our elections and destroying our First Amendment rights to free speech. As the government often does, they destroy our rights while falsely claiming to be taking actions to protect those rights. The Supreme Court ruling in the case, New York Times vs Sullivan, is a prime example of that fact.”
Blankenship added, “The media and the National Republican Senatorial Committee must be taught that defaming candidates for public office, particularly during an election campaign and with the stated purpose of stopping a candidate from winning an election, is the epitome of both chilling free speech and of election sabotage. It is particularly frightening that this onslaught of defamation occurred following US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and several more US Senators expressing their intention to ‘stop’ me from winning a federal election. The media and Republican operatives use of outright lies to sabotage federal elections must not be allowed to continue.”
Blankenship’s lead attorney, Eric Early, noted that, “in recent years many high-profile defamation suits by public figures against major media companies have been dismissed by courts at the Motion to Dismiss stage. This ruling reflects the strength of Don’s claims.”
Blankenship is currently a candidate for the Constitution Party’s nomination for US President. His promise to Americans is that if elected he will “declare a war on government corruption.”
Blankenship will also be releasing a book in a few days titled “Obama’s Deadliest Coverup”. The book will be available on Amazon.
He said it uses government documents, government prosecution witness trial testimony and forensic evidence to “expose the Barrack Obama-Joe Biden Administration coverup of what caused the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia to explode in 2010.”