April 26, 2012
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals (click here) issued a ruling this morning upholding the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit filed against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) by former employee Steven Rosen, who was fired following his arrest on espionage charges in 2005.
The charges were later dismissed, but Rosen sued AIPAC in District of Columbia Superior Court in 2009, claiming that statements AIPAC made to the press about him were defamatory; AIPAC had said that Rosen's behavior didn't comport with standards the lobbying group expected of employees. A trial judge granted AIPAC summary judgment in early 2011, and Rosen appealed.
In today's opinion (PDF), a three-judge appeals panel agreed with Superior Court Judge Erik Christian's finding that AIPAC's statements weren’t based on facts that could be verified objectively, and as a result couldn’t be "provably false," a standard for defamation claims....
The Israel Lobby gone wild (click here)
WEDNESDAY, NOV 17, 2010 07:01 AM EST
The latest shot in a long-running legal battle between AIPAC and Steven Rosen, a former top official at the pro-Israel group, reveals that AIPAC staffers regularly looked at Internet porn in the office, and that the married Rosen allegedly cruised for gay sex on Craigslist, according to new court filings....
The Israel Lobby gone wild (click here)
AIPAC staffers looking at porn and cruising for sex on Craigslist, according to allegations in court filings
WEDNESDAY, NOV 17, 2010 07:01 AM EST
The latest shot in a long-running legal battle between AIPAC and Steven Rosen, a former top official at the pro-Israel group, reveals that AIPAC staffers regularly looked at Internet porn in the office, and that the married Rosen allegedly cruised for gay sex on Craigslist, according to new court filings....
...“Q” here is an attorney for AIPAC, and “A” is Rosen.
...Q When is the first time you viewed pornographic material using the company computers at work?Q How often would you browse for pornographic websites?A I thought I answered that earlier. It varied a great deal. There were …Q Daily?A There were times where I viewed pornographic images daily. There were other times where I didn’t view them at all for long blocks of time.Q And you know we have a copy of your hard drive, correct?A I assumed it. I didn’t really know that.Q And for how many years did you do this?A That I really don’t know....
A I don’t know.
Q You have no idea?
A No. Mr. McCally, I have no idea. worked there 23 years. I really don’t know....
Rosen should have sued Bush for attempting to get leverage over AIPAC. At the very least it was sloppy prosecution, but, is the shoot from the hip Bush Administration's action any different here than when they justified their wrongful war into Iraq.
Rosen should have sued Bush for attempting to get leverage over AIPAC. At the very least it was sloppy prosecution, but, is the shoot from the hip Bush Administration's action any different here than when they justified their wrongful war into Iraq.
AIPAC felt targeted by U.S., new filings show (click here)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
It was a case that transfixed the pro-Israel community: the August 2005 arrest on espionage charges of two senior officials at AIPAC, the most influential pro-Israel group in Washington.
Before the government dropped the case in May 2009 — amid questions of whether the officials actually committed a crime by talking to Israeli officials about classified information one of them had received alleging an Iranian plot against Israelis stationed in Iraq — AIPAC fired the two men: foreign policy chief Steve Rosen and Iran analyst Keith Weissman.
Now the battle is on to clear their names.
Rosen has filed a defamation lawsuit demanding $20 million from AIPAC, and new court filings last week shed light on a key element of the case: Before firing the two senior staffers, AIPAC prepared a robust defense of them that alleged a conspiracy inside U.S. government agencies to target pro-Israel groups....
