Updated 11:40 a.m.
On August 2, an article called "The Primacy of the Rule of Law" was posted on The Huffington Post. The problem, according to a defamation lawsuit (PDF) filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is that the author listed, Juan Carlos Noriega, claims he had nothing to do with the piece.
Noriega, a lawyer based in Panama, is suing the media company for $3 million in damages, a full retraction, and an investigation into who created an account on The Huffington Post's website under his name.
A representative of The Huffington Post also could not immediately be reached for comment. Noriega's lawyer, Patton Boggs partner Benjamin Chew, said that the company never made any effort to contact Noriega before publishing the article along with his photo and a biographical description.
"Its unconscionable that The Huffington Post would not have done a modicum of due diligence before putting out an article on a subject like this, or any subject, without verifying the author," Chew said.
Noriega, according to the complaint, is a name partner at Panama-based Arias, Abrego, Lopez & Noriega and has a practice specializing in corporate law and international business. He denied ever registering an account with The Huffington Post's website.
The August article at issue had to do with the arrest of Dr. Shakeel Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who reportedly helped U.S. officials track down Osama Bin Laden through a fake vaccination program. In the article, the author – listed as Noriega – said that U.S. demands at the time for Afridi's release showed a disregard for Pakistan's authority.
But Noriega claims in his complaint that he never wrote any such article, and has never written anything for The Huffington Post. In a letter dated September 13 included as an exhibit with the complaint, Chew asked the site's editor to take down the article, saying Noriega was the victim of identity theft. Chew said today that he never received a response.
The Huffington Post piece was highly critical of how U.S. officials had responded to Afridi's arrest and the Central Intelligence Agency's role in the fake vaccination program. Noriega said in his complaint that he did not hold the views expressed in the article.
By having the article up under his name, Noriega said "serious damage" had been done to his reputation. He alleged that the article jeopardized his status with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and his ability to secure visas to work in the United States. He claimed the whole situation had caused him to "suffer loss of personal reputation, embarrassment, personal humiliation, general emotional distress, and specifically, stress relating to possible negative ramifications on his U.S. travel and work visas."
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle.
Libel lawsuits are extremely contentious and it can all depend on the arguments each side will put up. Many people who are portrayed in a negative light try to sue the media because they don't like how the facts make them look. The plaintiff in this lawsuit will have to prove the facts show a different picture than the one portrayed and the media manipulated or disregarded them in their story.
Posted by: RD Legal Funding | December 19, 2012 at 01:27 PM
As the LINES BLUR between the HUMAN/Natural Man & his Common Law RIGHTS AND the Corporate Paper & Electronic entities that Those Who Created it, I pray for Mr. Noriega. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle - so it is highly UNLIKELY the US Constitution (the Supreme Law) of the U.S. will be applied - the Federal Corporation behaves as though they can do whatever they please to anyone they please anywhere in the world without any RESPECT to HUMANKIND. “[Very] soon, every American will be required to register their biological property in a National system designed to keep track of the people and that will operate under the ancient system of pledging. By such methodology, we can compel people to submit to our agenda, which will affect our security as a chargeback for our fiat paper currency. Every American will be forced to register or suffer not being able to work and earn a living. They will be our chattel, and we will hold the security interest over them forever, by operation of the law merchant under the scheme of secured transactions. Americans, by unknowingly or unwittingly delivering the bills of lading to us will be rendered bankrupt and insolvent, forever to remain economic slaves through taxation, secured by their pledges. They will be stripped of their rights and given a commercial value designed to make us a profit and they will be non the wiser, for not one man in a million could ever figure our plans and, if by accident one or two would figure it out, we have in our arsenal plausible deniability." Edward Mandell House had this to say in a private meeting with Woodrow Wilson (President) [1913-1921]
Posted by: MARSHA MAINES | December 18, 2012 at 12:35 PM
How telling: In its efforts to discredit US foreign policy at any costs to serve its own biases the Huffington Post makes no effort to confirm the identity of the author of an article harshly critical of US efforts to free this courageous doctor from a Pakistani prison. This offends the liberal line that requires the US prostrate itself to Islamist terrorism and to those governments that support it. It will be fitting if they have to pay the damages to Mr. Noriega.
Posted by: Michael Caldwell | December 17, 2012 at 05:07 PM