Sheldon Adelson's Defamation Suit DismissedFederal Judge Sides With National Jewish Democratic Council |
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A federal judge has ruled to dismiss billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson’s defamation lawsuit against the National Jewish Democratic Council.
Adelson, a prominent Republican donor, is heavily involved with politics.
According to Politico, the lawsuit stemmed from a post on the NJDC’s website during last year’s presidential election. The post, titled “Tell Romney to Reject Adelson’s Dirty Money”, referenced accusations by a former Sands employee that Adelson “personally approved” of prostitution at his Macau properties.
The federal judge ruled that the post was fine because it was referencing legitimate media reports and court documents about the allegations against Adelson. The billionaire has never been proven guilty of any misconduct.
The victory for NJDC is being hailed as a significant event, since Adelson has vast financial resources and the NJDC reportedly does not.
“We’re obviously very, very, very pleased. This is an instance where David stood up to Goliath, where Goliath was trying to suppress our speech during the election, and the court told him that’s wrong,” NJDC Chairman Marc Stanley told Politico.
An attorney for Adelson responded to the federal judge’s decision in a statement:
“The court acknowledged in its opinion that the Las Vegas Sands’ policy is one of ‘no tolerance’ for prostitution and referenced records establishing that there is no evidence that can be found that anyone at the company supported in anyway a different policy on this issue. The statement by the National Jewish Democratic Council at issue in this case remains a boldfaced lie. We are reviewing the opinion for a likely appeal on what we believe to be an erroneous decision denying Mr. Adelson the basic right of trial by jury."