SARAH THE COMBATANT – AT 1:16 P.M. ET:  Sarah Palin is suing The New York Times for defamation.  Good for her.  The case involves a statement by the Times that the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was partly provoked by an ad Palin had run targeting Giffords for political defeat.

The Times later apologized for the statement, but Palin feels the damage had been done.  From the New York Post:   

Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times should be tossed because the paper made “an honest mistake” when it said she incited a 2011 shooting that severely wounded Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six people, a lawyer for the Gray Lady said on Friday.

“There was an honest mistake in posting the editorial,” lawyer David Schultz told Manhattan federal Judge Jed Rakoff.

Last week, Palin sued the Times over a June 14th editorial that stated there was a “direct” link between one of Palin’s PAC ads and the shooting by Jared Lee Loughner.

But there’s no evidence he ever saw the ad, which placed Gifford’s district in stylized crosshairs. The Times issued a correction.

On Friday, Palin’s lawyers argued that the Times knew the story was false.

“It was literally acknowledged the same day in another story in their paper,” said Kenneth Turkel.

COMMENT:  We'll be watching this closely.  It's a tough road for a public figure to sue a newspaper, especially once the paper has apologized.  But at least we'll see a newspaper challenged.

July 8, 2017