Republishing my letter to their ABC Managing Director over Sarah Ferguson's bullshit Trump/Russia collusion story.
Thursday, 27 June 2024
My letter to the ABC managing director over its "Story of the Century" defamation of President Trump
Tuesday, 10 March 2020
The President's legal counsel have been copied on the original email.
Dear Mr AndersonOn Monday, 4 June 2018 the ABC commenced publication (which continues online today) of the ABC 4 Corners 3 part series "The Story of The Century" which includes the central defamatory assertion, quote:"...that members of the Trump team, including possibly the President himself, actively colluded with Russia to subvert American democracy".
https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/trumprussia:-follow-the-money/9840958
That claim was investigated by a US Special Counsel who reported:
"the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities".
The ABC must now know that its "central allegation" is a false, misleading and defamatory statement about The President of our closest ally.
Defamation proceedings over similar facts
On 6 March 2020 Counsel for the Trump campaign J. David Hopkins and Charles J. Harder commenced proceedings (attached) against the US CNN broadcaster for similar publications to those made by the ABC, alleging:Defendants CNN Broadcasting, Inc., CNN Productions, Inc. and CNN Interactive Group, Inc. (collectively, "CNN") published false and defamatory statements of and concerning the Campaign,The US legal proceedings were brought:to publicly establish the truth, properly inform CNN's readers and audience (and the rest of the world) of the true facts, and seek appropriate remedies for the harm caused by CNN's false reporting and failure to retract and apologize for it.
Australian taxpayer exposureThe ABC continues to publish false and defamatory material about The President.The ABC must now know that its "central allegation, that members of the Trump team, including possibly the President himself, actively colluded with Russia to subvert American democracy" is a misleading and damaging fiction, yet it has not corrected the record.The ABC is now aware that legal action seeking millions of dollars in damages has been taken against another broadcaster for publishing similar false, misleading and defamatory material.Further, the ABC has taken no steps on its "Story of the Century" publication
- to publicly report the truth,
- to properly inform the ABC's readers and audience of the true facts
- to retract; and
- to apologize for its false reporting
RequestCan you please inform me of what action, if any, you propose to take to retract, apologise for and correct the ABC's false and misleading reportage?How will you limit Australian taxpayer exposure to any damages flowing from the ABC's false, misleading, defamatory and damaging publication?Yours sincerely,Michael SmithNB - I propose to treat this as a public communication.Trump v CNN by Michael Smith on Scribd
