Fox News:
Blogger forced to pay 'substantial sum' to Melania Trump in defamation lawsuit
February 07, 2017
A Maryland blogger has been forced to pay a “substantial sum” to Melania Trump as part of a settlement for a defamation lawsuit over an article containing unsubstantiated claims that the first lady once worked as an escort, her lawyers announced Tuesday.
"I posted an article on August 2, 2016 about Melania Trump that was replete with false and defamatory statements about her," Webster Tarpley, the 71-year-old blogger, said in a statement by Trump’s attorneys, according to the Washington Post.
Trump’s legal team declined to provide the settlement amount. Tarpley, of Gaithersburg, didn’t respond to requests from the Washington Post for comment, but his lawyer confirmed a settlement had been reached.
"I acknowledge that these false statements were very harmful and hurtful to Mrs. Trump and her family, and therefore I sincerely apologize to Mrs. Trump, her son, her husband and her parents for making these false statements," Trump’s lawyers -- in comments attributed to Tarpley -- wrote in their statement.
Trump on Monday also re-filed a libel lawsuit against the corporation that publishes the Daily Mail's website, this time in New York, for reporting on the escort rumors.
Trump had previously filed the lawsuit against Mail Media Inc. in Maryland, but a judge earlier this month ruled the case shouldn't be filed in Maryland and dismissed it. The lawsuit now filed in New York, where the corporation has offices, seeks compensatory and punitive damages of at least $150 million.
In the new filing Monday, the first lady's attorneys argue the report damaged her ability to profit off her high profile.
Melania Trump, the filing states, "had the unique, one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as an extremely famous and well-known person, as well as a former professional model, brand spokesperson and successful businesswoman, to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multimillion-dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which Plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world."
Those product categories, it goes on to say, could have included apparel, accessories, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care and fragrance, among others.
-- end of article
So OK, this should be a warning to people who lie and fabricate things for their blogs. And yes, I hope the same type of lawsuits can be brought against the Liberal Democrat controlled mainstream news media who routinely runs stories that are FAKE NEWS and/or are "alleged" to be true.
For me, I work very hard producing articles that I've researched. It is not easy to make sure what you put out does not slander anyone with unsubstantiated reported. That's why I really like doing factual post on American history, guns, horses, and livestock. Granted that some have my "opinion" in them, but I look at that as my assessment from what I have researched.
Now with saying that, I'm sure that the couple of stories that I have had fun with with are in my fiction section. The reason that I have them in my fiction section is because parts of those stories, even though it may only be a line or two, are made up. For an example of this, I used a mythical snake story floating around the internet to write a tongue and cheek post. And believe it or not, I had people actually writing to ask where that other information came from?
As for my political posts and my Conservative beliefs and opinions? When I write those posts, I take my information from multiple news sources, back check them, and simply give my opinion.
As for writing about American History? I let real history speak for itself. And no, history should not be partisan. That's why I approach my history posts with the attitude that while I want to give you an entertaining story, I worry more about the facts. I see looking into history as being the same as being a crime scene investigator in that I'm only interesting in the facts of what took place and really not what someone thinks took place.
And frankly, the same goes for my articles on guns and equipment, horses and livestock, or other posts. I do the research and let the cards speak for themselves.
Point is if a blogger calls someone a liar, then he or she better show how they lied. If a blogger makes an opinion, don't just say it is "right" or "wrong".
Tell us what your opinion is based on. Don't be like the vast majority of the rioters and looters we see these days since Donald Trump has been elected. They run off of emotion and completely lack any sort of logic for their actions. They rant and rave and call people names and attack and thing that that is how intelligent people act. And no, anger is not an argument.
So really, bloggers need to say why they see something as not right or not wrong. And before any blogger calls someone a hooker, other than metaphorically like say calling some politicians "political whores" because they dance to the wishes of their special interest donors, this lawsuit shows that you better have iron-clad proof of it.
And yes, that's just the way I see it.
Tom Correa
Point is if a blogger calls someone a liar, then he or she better show how they lied. If a blogger makes an opinion, don't just say it is "right" or "wrong".
Tell us what your opinion is based on. Don't be like the vast majority of the rioters and looters we see these days since Donald Trump has been elected. They run off of emotion and completely lack any sort of logic for their actions. They rant and rave and call people names and attack and thing that that is how intelligent people act. And no, anger is not an argument.
So really, bloggers need to say why they see something as not right or not wrong. And before any blogger calls someone a hooker, other than metaphorically like say calling some politicians "political whores" because they dance to the wishes of their special interest donors, this lawsuit shows that you better have iron-clad proof of it.
And yes, that's just the way I see it.
Tom Correa
