Jerome Corsi sues Infowars’ Alex Jones for defamation – By Tal Axelrod (The Hill) / March 8 2019
Conservative author and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi filed a defamation lawsuit against Infowars founder Alex Jones on Thursday.
Corsi and his lawyer, conservative activist Larry Klayman, filed the claim against Jones, Jones’s father David Jones and Infowars host Owen Shroyer for allegedly “defaming, intimidating and threatening” them.
The lawsuit notes that Alex Jones said Corsi “seemed to be extremely mentally degraded to the point of what I would call dementia” and that Infowars guests often impugned Corsi and Klayman’s character. The plaintiffs claim that the allegations have hit them in their wallets, costing them “financial support and sales.”
The plaintiffs noted that Infowars has used its widespread reach, with “a radio audience of over two million people” and a sophisticated digital operation, to spread conspiracy theories, including that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting was staged and that Hillary and Bill Clinton were running a high-profile pedophile ring out of a Washington, D.C., restaurant.
Corsi too was a promoter of conspiracy theories, often highlighting the “birther” claim that former President Obama was not born in the U.S. He used to work for Alex Jones as Infowars’ Washington bureau chief but left the show last June.
However, Alex Jones has used his show to attack Corsi as special counsel Robert Mueller seeks Corsi’s testimony in his probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Mueller is probing if Corsi connected the Trump campaign with WikiLeaks during the 2016 election and whether Roger Stone, a Trump associate and Infowars host, facilitated the connection.
The lawsuit cites attacks Stone made against Corsi and Klayman while hosting the show, including when Stone said Corsi has a “feeble, alcohol-affected memory” and said Klayman is “an egomaniac, and he could be the single worst lawyer in America.”
Mueller recently indicted Stone on one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering.
