Gateway Pundit, a far-right website that routinely publishes libels and promotes false conspiracy theories, is frequently sued.
Wikipedia says (here) it “has a record of misidentifying perpetrators of shootings and terror attacks,” pointing out innocent persons by name, and provides multiple examples. These persons are often then harassed and threatened — and they sue.
GP also has been a major supporter of Trump’s election lies and promoter of false election theories, and that’s behind yet another defamation lawsuit against this perpetually lying website.
After the 2020 election, the Trump camp falsely alleged that showed Atlanta election workers counted fraudulent ballots after Republican observers left for the night, a claim that was promptly debunked, which didn’t stop the story from circulating in conservative internet sewers. GP participated in keeping the false narrative alive.
But GP went further. While Trump’s legal team didn’t name any of the falsely accused election workers, GP did, and the two women — a mother and daughter — are now suing GP and its owner, Tim Hoft, alleging they were subject to harassment and threats following the publication of their names, ABC News reported on Thursday, December 2, 2021 (read story here).
Every legal action stands or falls on its individual merits, based on the facts of the case, and applicable law. In general, the election workers probably won’t have to prove actual malice (under the Times v. Sullivan standard), because they’re not public figures. They were simply among the many thousands of people who take temporary jobs at election departments to make a little extra money.
But this lawsuit is part of a broader skein of holding people who attacked our democracy accountable. That’s important. Our laws establish an election system that tries to treat voters, candidates, and parties impartially. Americans, like people everywhere, have political disputes; here, unlike in many places, we’ve traditionally settled those disputes peacefully. If we don’t want our society to descend into the political violence often seen in other countries, then we have to enforce the rules that govern our system and crack down on those who violate them.
That’s what makes it important to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot, prosecute the rioters, sanction lawyers who filed meritless election lawsuits, and sue those like Gateway Pundit who defamed innocent election workers. If enough Capitol rioters go to jail, these lawyers are fined and disbarred, and libelers like Gateway Pundit are bankrupted by lawsuits brought against them by their victims, then maybe others will think twice before imitating that conduct in the future. Plus, they deserve to be punished.