A New York judge tossed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News host Jessica Tarlov by Tony Bobulinski, while also ordering the GOP’s Biden impeachment witness to pay Tarlov’s legal fees, Mediaite reported.
The comment in question occurred during a March 20 episode of The Five, in which Tarlov, the show’s resident liberal co-host, said, “Tony Bobulinski’s lawyers' fees have been paid by a Trump Super PAC. That’s as recent as January.”
After receiving a notice from Bobulinski’s attorney threatening legal action, Tarlov cleared things up the next day.
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“I would like to clarify a comment I made yesterday during our discussion of Tony Bobulinski’s appearance at the congressional hearing. During an exchange with my colleagues about the hearing, I said that Mr. Bobulinski’s lawyers’ fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC as recent as January,” Tarlov said.
“What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinski’s legal fees and he denies that they were.”
Yet that statement, according to Bobulinski’s lawyer, was insufficient, as he followed up with another request for a “complete retraction and apology.”
Fox replied by saying that Tarlov’s correction was “accurate,” and that they wouldn’t be making another.
Bobulinski then sued Tarlov for $30 million. In dismissing the case, Judge J. Paul Oetken wrote that Bobulinski didn’t show that Tarlov’s initial comment had damaged his reputation as a businessman.
“The New York Court of Appeals has held that, for a statement to qualify as defamation per se under the professional conduct exception, the statement must specifically reference conduct that is incompatible with a person’s profession, ‘rather than a more general reflection upon the plaintiff’s character or qualities,‘” he wrote.
Noting that New York’s anti-SLAPP law, which is designed to prevent frivolous lawsuits that chill free speech, applies, Oetken approved Tarlov’s request for her attorneys' fees to be paid for by Bobulinski.
Bobulinski, who pushed unproven claims during House Republicans' fruitless impeachment effort of President Joe Biden, is a former business associate of the Biden family.
