Thread by @peterpattakos

Another key angle to this story that's being missed is re: #Dolphins’ offer of $100K to each accuser so they could sign Deshaun. Buzbee’s rejection of this (far more than he could reasonably expect to get in court) is more solid proof that he’s running a smear campaign. 🧵#Browns

Based on what’s been reported, including Watson’s public statement on Tues, this offer was contingent on all the accusers accepting. This is common in litigation. And it means that Buzbee only had to convince one of his clients to reject it to keep his smear campaign going.

Any lawyer who didn’t have ulterior motives would most surely have convinced his clients to accept this lucrative offer. Again, the great majority of the accusers allege no physical contact at all. $100K is an astronomical sum in such cases. No way they'd get that from a jury.

Even the small handful of his accusers who allege physical contact do not allege violence. $100K would be an extremely high recovery for them too, and surely beyond any realistic expectation of what they'd get at trial.

And even if one or more accuser believed they were entitled to substantially more than the others, this could have easily been worked out among the group with settlement shares depending on the severity of the respective allegations. This happens all the time in litigation.

In any case, $2.2M for the 22 accusers was far above expected recovery for the group even if all their allegations could be proven. That this was rejected strongly supports the inference that the purpose here is to ruin Watson, not to remedy actual damage to the plaintiffs.

Also, that this offer was on the table makes it easier for Buzbee to mislead/control the group, including to attract additional accusers. But from an NFL franchise's perspective, if you're going to give a QB a $200M+ contract, $2.2M to settle these claims is a drop in the bucket.

Buzbee doesn't need the money. This case at best is peanuts compared to the 8 & 9-figure verdicts he's racked up. Whatever the truth, the fact that he didn't close on the $2.2M offer for his clients is another part of this story that's highly questionable.

Shockingly, the Twitter Law School grads have this exactly backwards

Also enjoying the geniuses in the replies arguing over whether it was the #Dolphins or Watson who offered the $2.2M in settlements, as if that distinction matters at all in the context of negotiations where Dolphins were promising a $200M+ contract if the suits settled.