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 For Immediate Release
Oct 13, 2000 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172


D.C. CIRCUIT SHOWS INCLINATION TO ALLOW LIBEL LAWSUIT TO PROCEED AGAINST NEW REPUBLIC MAGAZINE

Paul Weyrich, Conservative Icon, Had Been Defamed In A Profile Published In 1997


(Washington, DC) This week, Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch, appeared before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit to argue an appeal by Paul Weyrich, head of the Free Congress Foundation and founder of the Heritage Foundation, over the dismissal of his lawsuit for defamation against The New Republic Magazine. During the period that Mr. Weyrich was the head of NET Television – the first conservative cable network – The New Republic, which is a liberal publication, sought to destroy him with a “hit-piece” profile which contained defamatory matter. The lower court judge initially dismissed the lawsuit, deferring to the D.C. Circuit to decide whether the case should proceed. Last Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit all expressed the view that the lawsuit should proceed, that the dismissal was incorrect. Judicial Watch and Mr. Weyrich await the Court’s formal opinion.

“Even public figures are not immune from being defamed, and the lawsuit of Paul Weyrich, which it is clear will now proceed, will hold accountable ‘attack and smear journalism’ from all sides of the political spectrum,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

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