Mother Jones forced to spend $2.5 M to win $74,999 defamation lawsuit.

A billionaire political donor sued Mother Jones. We won. Here’s what happened. by Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery for Mother Jones (4,548 tweets, 29 unique quotes.)

“It was a push, by a superrich businessman and donor, to wipe out news coverage that he disapproved of” (73 shares). “Legally, what we fought over was what, precisely, the terms ‘bashing’ and ‘outing’ meant in the context of our article” (1). 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman said, “A superrich plaintiff is spending millions of dollars while he bleeds the magazine and ties up its staff” (1).

The superrich businessman is Frank VanderSloot. The $74,999 is one dollar less than the amount that would send the case to federal court. As such, the case was decided by a jury in Bonneville County, Idaho, where VanderSloot’s company Melaleuca is the largest employer. VanderSloot took issue with accurate reporting about his historic support against marriage equity. Support that he has backtracked from.

Mother Jones also paid the legal fees of Peter Zuckerman, who was sued by VanderSloot after Zuckerman talked to Rachel Maddow. However, “VanderSloot did not sue MSNBC or its deep-pocketed parent company, Comcast” (3).

“If VanderSloot had prevailed, he would have proven that with enough money to throw at lawyers, you can wipe the slate” (2). After losing, VanderSloot said he felt “absolutely vindicated” and announced a $1 million fund to pay the legal expenses of others who want to sue the media.

There is a real threat of a frivolous lawsuit bankrupting a small small news outlet, or causing them to self-censor out of fear of litigation. After insurance, Mother Jones still faces $650,000 in legal fees. They are asking for emergency, tax-deductible donations.

Here are some of the top quotes from Mother Jones’ articles since I started keeping track:

“The average cost to taxpayers for a single gun homicide in America is nearly $400,000. And we pay for 32 of them every single day” (160 shares). … “At $229 billion, the toll from gun violence would have been $47 billion more than Apple’s 2014 worldwide revenue” (41).

“You actually need housing to achieve sobriety and stability, not the other way around” (31 shares). … “Ironically, ending homelessness is actually cheaper than continuing to treat the problem” (4).

“Yemen after five months looks like Syria after five years” (141 shares).

By racking up additional infractions, “privatized prisons are keeping inmates locked up longer in order to boost profits”(128 shares).

“People don’t get shot for a traffic stop unless they’re violent toward a police officer. And he wasn’t” (99 shares).

On child raising: “Focusing on problem solving instead of punishment is now seen as key to successful discipline” (16 shares).

“We’re not just talking handcuffs here. These kids are virtually hog-tied” (41 shares).

“About 1,200 Americans control more than 40 percent of election contributions” (76 shares).

“Conservatives have long attempted to discredit black social movements by casting them as criminal” (33 shares).

“The almond-milk industry is selling you a jug of filtered water clouded by a handful of ground almonds” (44 shares).

“We actually love America! We’re harsh and critical about it, but that’s because we love it so much” (32 shares).

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