Thread by @jarvis_best

QUICK IMPROMPTU THREAD

David Wheeler runs a PAC called "American Muckrakers," a low-rent outfit that publishes whatever unverified rumors that comes his way. About a year ago, they made a splash by alleging that Lauren Boebert was a prostitute who had two abortions.

They claimed they had a tip from a source close to Boebert, and then conducted an "exhaustive investigation" to confirm the allegations.

Remember this for later.

Boebert quickly and categorically denied the allegations. And despite not being the most popular gal on Twitter, the sense was that the report was bullshit. The escort didn't even look like Boebert . . . like AT ALL. Like not even close.

Boerbert said she was going to sue American Muckrakers, but she never followed through on it. Defamation cases with regards to politicians are very difficult to prosecute because you have to prove that the defendant knowingly lied - not just that they passed on unverified info.

So yesterday, American Muckrakers and Wheeler sued Boebert for defaming THEM and allegedly infringing upon their first amendment rights.

I wanted to read this complaint to see if American Muckrakers actually had the goods on Boebert. After all, if Boebert called them liars when they weren't liars, that could conceivably be actionable.

However, if it's just a difference of opinion, it isn't actionable.

The Complaint is long and includes tons of exhibits. This is it. This is all the dirt they have on Boebert.

And . . .

holy shit, it's not great.

Their primary source was a twitter account called Earth Warrior. It had 35 followers and does not appear to exist anymore.

The source starts chatting with Wheeler on May 30, 2022. She says that she lives in the country off a dirt road.

She says that Lauren Boebert poisoned two of her horses. She says she is scared.

She says that weird guys come into her driveway . . . she implies that Lauren sent them. "She knows I know."

What does she know? And how would Boebert know that she knew?

She heard that Boebert was on meth, stripping and hooking, and that she had two abortions. She heard it from her friend, who heard it from her daughter.

That's . . . pretty much it? The Earth Warrior twitter account passed on the pictures of "Boebert" from the Escort service, but as I noted above, it really doesn't look anything like her.

No other proof was provided. Nothing first-hand.

Back to the Complaint: it states that Boebert was lying, and that their reporting was in fact true. However, no proof is given, and the allegations include the "On information and belief" qualifier, which is lawyer talk "Yeah I don't really know if this is true or not."

Back up to the press release, where American Muckrakers says that they did an "exhaustive investigation" based on a "tip" from a source close to Boebert.

Yeah, no. The press release is dated June 14, only two weeks after Earth Warrior contacted them with third-hand rumors.

Once they came out with the report and the (obviously not Boebert) photos, donations to American Muckrakers tanked. Wheeler blames this on Boebert, but it seems to me the more likely explanation is that no one believed the report.

I don't see how American Muckrakers substantiates their defamation claim. I don't see any defamatory statements -- just Boebert calling them hacks and liars, which . . . I think they are.

But the real treat for me here was the supposed First Amendment violation. They allege that Boebert has threatened to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in order to get social media companies to do their bidding and censor speech they don't like.

But . . . there's no allegation that that happened in this case. American Muckraker's report is still up. They still have a twitter account, etc. Boebert having opinions on the Communications Decency Act isn't a First Amendment violation.

The lawyer for American Muckrakers is this dude, an apparent solo practitioner in Denver. I've never heard of him. I searched for his name in Colorado state and federal cases and found only one case - a cattle dispute from a few years ago.

Anygay, that's it for now. I'm not feeling super optimistic about American Muckrakers' chances, but what the hell do I know.