Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 1 of 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -----------------------------------------------------------------------x Roy Den Hollander, Plaintiff, Docket No. VERIFIED COMPLAINT -againstMajor Elliott Garrett, CBS News reporter; Katharine Bear Tur, NBC News reporter; Charles David Todd, NBC moderator of Meet the Press; Thomas Llamas, ABC News reporter and anchor; Abilio James Acosta, CNN reporter; David Brooks, commentator for the New York Times and PBS News Hour; Jenna Johnson, Washington Post reporter. Jury Trail Requested Defendants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------x “It is a principle among printers [the press] that when truth has fair play, it will always prevail over falsehood.” Benjamin Franklin. “Journalism’s obligation is to the public. Journalism places the public’s interests ahead of commercial, political and personal interests. Journalism empowers viewers, listeners and readers to make more informed decisions for themselves; it does not tell people what to believe or how to feel.” Radio, Television and Digital News Association’s Guiding Principles I. Factual Allegations 1. This is an action against the above named defendant news reporters and commentators (“Reporters”) for violating the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et al., (“RICO”) by repeatedly committing the racketeering activity of wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, when they (1) create and cause to be broadcast and disseminated false and misleading news reports concerning the Donald J. Trump candidacy for President of the United States (“Trump Candidacy”); (2) provide commentary based on a false set of facts or fail to reveal the alleged factual basis for the assertion of their judgments; and (3) lobby on various news-talk shows in furtherance of their opposition to the Trump Candidacy. Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 2 of 15 2. The Reporters create and cause to be broadcast and disseminated false and misleading news reports and commentaries about the Trump Candidacy and lobby on news-talk shows against the Trump Candidacy in order to prevent Donald J. Trump (“Trump”) from being elected President of these United States and to aid and abet Hillary R. Clinton (“Clinton”) in being elected President.1 This objective and the methods used in carrying it out are referred to as the “scheme or schemes” under RICO law. 3. The Reporters’ false and misleading information and the material omissions in their news reports, commentaries, and their lobbying on news-talk shows corrupt, manipulate, and rig this republic’s electoral process because numerous members of the public rely on the Reporters to be their surrogate observers of the Presidential campaigns, report back to the public the material facts on both sides of the election battle, and provide professional judgments based on observed facts free of intentional falsehoods, prevarications, dissemblings or ideological biases. 4. The “claim of the [news media] to be ‘surrogates for the public’ carries with it a concomitant fiduciary obligation to account for that stewardship.” Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241, 251 (1974). 5. “Freedom of the press is a right belonging, like all rights in a democracy, to all the people. As a practical matter, however, it can be exercised only by those who have effective access to the press. Where financial, economic, and technological conditions limit such access to a small minority, the exercise of that right by that minority takes on fiduciary or quasi-fiduciary characteristics.” Archibald MacLeish quoted in Freedom of the Press, a Report from the Commission on Freedom of the Press 99 n. 4 (1947). The terminology “false and misleading or fraudulent news reports, commentaries and lobbying” means that the Reporters include false and misleading information or leave out material information in order to defraud the public. It does not mean that every assertion by the Reporters is false and misleading or every omission material. 1 2 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 3 of 15 6. The Reporters intentionally breach their duty to the public in order to present voters with a false and misleading reality in both their news reports, commentaries, and news-talk show lobbying so that voters will decide to elect the “politically correct” choice for President— Clinton. 7. In order for volunteer supporters of the Trump Candidacy, such as Plaintiff, to counter the Reporters’ false and misleading information and material omissions, they need to circumvent the Reporters mainstream-media bottle-neck on campaign information, commentaries, and lobbying. To do so requires supporters to contribute more funds and time to reach voters directly in order to present voters with the Trump Candidacy side of the election campaign,2 counter the Reporters commentaries based on not-existent facts or facts they fail to disclose, and mitigate their lobbying efforts. 8. If the Reporters were faithfully fulfilling their duty to the voters and public by providing reports and communications that are fair, balanced, and impartial; then the amount of contributions and time provided by Plaintiff and other supporters of the Trump Candidacy would be significantly less. 9. “No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.” Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 17 (1964). 10. The Reporters’ fraudulent news reports, commentaries and partisan lobbying undermine the public’s right to vote with false and misleading information and baseless judgments that wrongly manipulate, diminish and subvert the voice of those in the election process and destroys “Voting rights subsume . . . [the] chance to contribute to a chosen candidate.” Lawrence Tribe, American Constitutional Law, 1062 (3rd ed.). 2 3 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 4 of 15 “the confidence that all citizens must have in the outcome of elections.” Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98, 109 (2000). 11. As Ida B. Wells once said, “People must know before they can act and there is no educator to compare to the press.” Providing that the press is telling the truth. II. Civil RICO cause of action for wire fraud 12. RICO “protects the public from those who would unlawfully use an enterprise (whether legitimate or illegitimate) as a vehicle through which ‘unlawful . . . activity is committed.’” Cedric Kushner Promotions, Ltd. v. King, 533 U.S. 158, 164 (2001). 13. Civil RICO has a number of requirements that are listed below along with how they apply to this case against the Reporters. The Enterprises 14. An Enterprise can be a legal entity or a group of persons who associate together for a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct and as an ongoing organization with various associates functioning as a continuing unity that affect interstate or foreign commerce. 15. On information and belief, each of the Reporters works for the news department of their respective employers. These news departments are each a separate Enterprise that consists of a group of persons working together to create, broadcast and disseminate news, commentaries, and, for the television news departments, provide news-talk shows to the public on an ongoing basis. The separate Enterprises are CBS News, NBC News, ABC News, PBS News Hour, Cable News Network (“CNN”), The New York Times Newsroom, and The Washington Post Newsroom. 16. These news departments are not accused of racketeering activities under 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B). Only the Reporters are accused of racketeering activity—wire fraud under 18 4 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 5 of 15 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B), and of using their respective news departments for criminal purposes. The Reporters violate RICO, and it is through their respective news departments that the violations take place. The culprits and their tools, the news departments, are different entities as required under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). 17. The news departments, or Enterprises, affect both interstate and foreign commerce because the production and distribution of the news, commentaries, and for television the newstalk shows cross state and international boundaries. Pattern of Racketeering Activity 18. A Pattern of Racketeering Activity requires that a defendant commit two or more “predicate acts” (also called racketeering activities) that are related and connected in time. Here the “predicate acts” by the Reporters are wire fraud by creating and causing to be broadcast and disseminated to the public false and misleading news reports and commentaries about the Trump Candidacy and furthering their schemes by lobbying on news-talk shows against the Trump Candidacy. 19. The Reporters are major players in their respective news departments who direct or importune minor players that assist in the creation and broadcasting of false and misleading information, unless the Reporters are providing commentaries or lobbying on news-talk shows, then the involvement of minor players are mainly ministerial. 20. “Predicate acts” are considered related under RICO when they have the same purpose, participants, targets and method of commission. 21. The repetitive “predicate acts” of wire fraud by each Reporter are related because 5 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 6 of 15 a. the objective of their false and misleading news reports, commentaries, and newstalk show lobbying are to convince voters not to vote for and the public not to support the Trump Candidacy; b. the participants are the same Reporters creating and causing to be provided to the public the false and misleading news reports, commentaries, and lobbying on various news-talk shows; c. the targets are the same—the voters, the public and Trump supporters, actual or potential; and d. the Reporters methods of violating the wire fraud act are the same—creating and causing to be broadcast and disseminated false and misleading news reports, commentaries, and lobbying on news-talk shows. 22. The Reporters’ numerous “predicate acts” of wire fraud, which began after the announcement of the Trump Candidacy on June 16, 2015, may have what is called under the Act a “closed” connection in time because they have occurred over a finite period of time greater than one year. Or, the predicate acts can be viewed as “open” because they are of a continuing nature and there exists a threat of repetition by the Reporters until at least Election Day, November 8, 2016. 23. Each Reporter operating through their respective news departments, the Enterprises, has engaged in a Pattern of Racketeering Activity as defined under the Act. Predicate Acts of Wire Fraud 24. Wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 requires a. a scheme to trick by means of false or misleading representations (scheme includes half truths, concealment of material facts, and deceit); 6 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 7 of 15 b. causing such misrepresentations to be transmitted or making a communication in furtherance of the scheme by wire, radio or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce; and c. intentionally devising, participating in, or abetting such a scheme, which is inferred by a person’s pattern of conduct and the nature of her scheme. 25. The Reporters have repeatedly created and caused to be broadcast and disseminated in interstate commerce via modern mediums of communication (1) news reports in which they knowingly and intentionally made misrepresentations of the facts, prevaricated, and dissembled about the Trump Candidacy; (2) commentaries in which they relied on intentionally made-up facts or failed to disclose the alleged facts relied on; and (3) assertions of a lobbying nature on news-talk shows in order to carry out their schemes to convince voters not to vote for and the public not to support the Trump Candidacy. A sampling of the Reporters fraudulent news reports, commentaries, and lobbing on news-talk shows that they clearly foresaw would be communicated by wire are listed at Exhibit A, or the Court can take judicial notice of the liberal bias of the mainstream media, which includes the Reporters. 26. The false and misleading news reports, commentaries, and lobbying do not only include reports based on current events in the Presidential Election process, but the re-treading of old information, sometimes decades old, in a false and misleading manner concerning Trump in order to distract from current events that show Clinton in a negative fashion. 27. Another dissembling tactic often employed by the liberal mainstream media is to focus on a tangential remark or short statement in an hour long or more Trump speech that the media can manipulate into a repugnant meaning creating the false impression that the entire speech was reprehensible and inappropriate for a presidential candidate. 7 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 8 of 15 The Reporters Prohibited RICO 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) Activity 28. 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) declares and identifies the conduct under RICO that is illegal in which the Reporters have been and are engaging: It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity . . . . 29. To violate RICO, the Reporters are required to play some part in conducting, participating, or directing the affairs of the news departments, or Enterprises, in which they work. 30. The main functions or affairs of the news departments are (1) to gather information about events and people that may be of interest to the public; assign a reporter and perhaps field producer to cover the events and persons, which means gathering the facts through research and interviews; writing a fact based narrative about the event and persons; putting it all together in the form of a factual—not fictional—story that includes a reporter’s narrative as a standup sound bite or voice over or both and is interspersed with sound bites from persons involved or related to the story; or for newspapers, just a written narrative with relevant quotes; (2) to provide commentaries based on accurate and disclosed facts that render professional, knowledgeable judgments on current events; (3) to broadcast and disseminate news reports and commentaries to the viewing or reading public; and (4) for the television news departments, produce news-talk shows in which reporters from any news department participate in order to provide the public with insight and analysis on events important to the public. 31. Throughout the entire process, the Reporters play important roles in creating a story or commentary that is fed to the public because the Reporters have a significant amount of fame, which translates into substantial power in their respective news departments. Whether the 8 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 9 of 15 Reporters suggest the news reports or commentaries, suggest the approaches, set up the interviews, write the narratives, choose the sound bites, or quotes—they okay the finished product and agree to it being broadcast or disseminated to the public whether specifically or in the normal course of conduct. The Reporters and their news department editors, and sometimes lawyers, may have disagreements, and there are compromises, but the Reporters are key to the creation and broadcasting or dissemination of their news reports and commentaries. 32. The Reporters also take part in the conduct of their respective news departments, or Enterprises, by knowingly implementing decisions as well as making them. 33. The Reporters have and are continuing to use their positions of influence in their respective news departments to create and cause to be broadcast and disseminate by wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce intentionally false and misleading news reports and commentaries about the Trump Candidacy. 34. The Reporters’ influential standing in their profession results in their being invited to appear on various news-talk shows where they lobby against the Trump Candidacy. 35. Under RICO, the Reporters’ racketeering activities do not have to be motivated by economic reasons. On information and belief, the Reporters are motivated by the fear of not being or appearing to be politically correct, which would subject them to opprobrious and unsubstantiated accusations of the type they employ against the Trump Candidacy in their efforts to shut down dissent and political criticism of the elite establishment. Injury 36. The Reporters, as key members of the news media, have a special and independent duty to the public to be fair, impartial and accurate in their reporting and professional presentations because the public relies on their news reports and the unvarnished facts gained by them from 9 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 10 of 15 their unique position of covering the news to accurately inform the public of current events that impact their lives and futures and to provide professional commentaries based on facts. The Reporters have violated their duties by creating and causing to be broadcast and disseminated false and misleading news reports and commentaries about the Trump Candidacy and lobbying on various news-talk shows against the Trump Candidacy. 37. The Reporters’ repetitive “predicate acts” of wire fraud via dissemination of their reports, commentaries and lobbying on news-talk shows are aimed at voters and members of the public that support or may support the Trump Candidacy. The Reporters’ intentions in carrying out their patterns of racketeering activities are two-fold: (1) trick voters into voting for Clinton by corrupting the electoral process with false information, duplicitous commentaries and biased lobbying; and (2) cause those who are supporting or may support the Trump Candidacy into not doing so by making it too costly in contributions and time to counter the Reporters’ false and misleading news reports, commentaries and lobbying efforts with the result of chilling those members of the public fundamental First Amendment rights of association for political purposes. 38. The additional time and contributions incurred by Plaintiff are injuries to Plaintiff’s property that occurred by reason of the Reporters violation of 18 U.S.C. 1962(c). III. The Parties Defendant Reporters 39. Thomas “Tom” Llamas is an anchor and reporter for ABC News based in New York. 40. Major Elliott Garrett is Chief White House reporter with CBS News, based in Washington, D.C. 41. Katharine Bear “Katy” Tur is an American broadcast reporter for NBC News, based in New York City. 10 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 11 of 15 42. Charles David “Chuck” Todd is an American television journalist who is the 12th moderator of Meet the Press, host of Meet the Press Daily on MSNBC and is based in Washington, D.C. He also serves as the Political Director for NBC News and as the on-air political analyst for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and Today. 43. Abilio James “Jim” Acosta is the Senior White House reporter for CNN, based in Washington, D.C. 44. David Brooks is an American political commentator for The New York Times and the PBS News Hour, and, on information and belief, resides in Washington, D.C. 45. Jenna Johnson is a political reporter who is covering the 2016 presidential campaign for the Washington Post, based in Washington, D.C. Plaintiff 46. Plaintiff Roy Den Hollander resides in Manhattan, New York and works as an attorney. IV. Subject Matter Jurisdiction 47. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction because this action rests on a federal question under the civil enforcement provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act §18 U.S.C. 1961-68. V. Personal Jurisdiction 48. This Court has personal jurisdiction over each defendant Reporter under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(1)(A) because each defendant Reporter is subject to personal jurisdiction in the New York State courts and has minimum contacts with the State; or under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(2), because each defendant Reporter has minimum contacts with the United States; or under 18 U.S.C. § 1965(b) or (d) of the RICO statute. 11 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 12 of 15 VI. Venue 49. Venue is proper in this Court under 18 U.S.C. 1965(a) for each defendant Reporter because each defendant Reporter resides, is found, has an agent, or transacts his affairs in this district. 50. In the alternative, venue is proper in this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2) because a substantial part of the events that gave rise to the claims against each defendant Reporter occurred and are occurring in this forum. 51. In the alternative, venue is proper in this Court under 18 U.S.C. 1965(b) in order to serve the ends of justice because at least one of the defendant Reporters satisfies at least one of the above venue requirements. VII. Relief Requested Preliminary Injunction 52. Plaintiff requests a preliminary injunction pending a final determination of the merits of this action to immediately halt the Reporters’ wire fraud and their intentional subversion of the status quo of a fair electoral process for choosing the next President of the United States on November 8, 2016. 53. The press of time is crucial—Election Day is fast approaching and early voting even faster. 54. A preliminary injunction is necessary to halt the Reporters efforts to manipulate and pervert the electoral process through their racketeering activity of wire fraud by requiring them to fact check their communications, refrain from exploiting out-of-context quotes by Trump, 12 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 13 of 15 provide equal time to both sides, and refrain from advocating their belief in political correctionalism. 3 55. Without a preliminary injunction, this case will not be heard until after the election, which will be too late. Regardless of who wins, the Reporters would have by then been successful in injuring Plaintiff in a manner that this Court could not fully correct and permeating a Presidential election with fraud intentionally perpetrated on the electorate. 56. The Reporters’ influence should not be underestimated. They are key members of their respective news departments, or Enterprises, who report, comment and lobby on news-talk shows concerning the 2016 Presidential Election. 57. The Reporters disseminate their false and misleading reports, commentaries and ideologically corrupt PC lobbying on news-talk shows to an audience of tens of millions of voters who, on information and belief, rely on the Reporters’ assertions. 58. According to the Pew Research Center on Journalism & Media, ten percent of U.S. adults rely mainly on national nightly network television news show—ABC, CBS and NBC. J. Gottried, M. Barthel, E. Shearer, A. Mitchell, The 2016 Presidential Campaign – a News Event That’s Hard to Miss, Feb. 4, 2016. “Adults,” which means age 18, the required age for voting, and over, number approximately 245 million in the U.S. Ten percent is approximately 24 million. 59. NBC’s Meet the Press audience is around 3 million viewers who, on information and belief, are mainly voting age adults. 60. Twenty-four percent of adults rely mainly on cable, such as CNN. Id. CNN’s prime time viewer ship is around 1.4 million of whom 455,000 are between 25 and 54 years old. Alex “Correctionalism” in the sense of a correctional system that imprisons thought, speech and action even when no laws are being violated. 3 13 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 14 of 15 Weprin, 2016 election coverage keeps shattering cable news ratings records, Politico, Mar. 29, 2016. 61. Two percent of adults rely mainly on national print newspapers, such as the New York Times and Washington Post. The 2016 Presidential Campaign – a News Event That’s Hard to Miss, Feb. 4, 2016. The Times has a circulation of around 1.3 million and the Washington Post has a circulation of around 470,000 of which, on information and belief for both papers, most are voting age adults. 62. The public interest in a Presidential Election free of the Reporters’ false and misleading reports, commentaries and lobbying strongly supports the preliminary injunction. Leave it to the Clinton campaign to propagate its own propaganda. At least then, the public knows to view such with skepticism rather than accept as accurate the same lies disseminated by the Reporters. 63. This Court has greater power to fashion equitable relief in defense of the public interest than it has when only private interests are involved. Virginian Railway Co. v. System Federation No. 40, Railway Employees Department of the American Federation of Labor, 300 U.S. 515, 552 (1937)(citations omitted). Declaratory Judgment and Permanent Injunction 64. Plaintiff requests declaratory judgment that the Reporters are in violation of RICO and a permanent injunction prohibiting them from continuing to create and cause to be broadcast and disseminated false and misleading news reports and commentaries concerning the Trump Candidacy and lobbying on various news-talk shows against the Trump Candidacy. Damages 65. Plaintiff requests out-of-pocket losses, consequential damages, and expenses incurred in investigating the Reporters’ frauds and that the Reporters be held severally and jointly liable. 14 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 15 of 15 VIII. Demand for Jury Trial 66. Plaintiff demands a trial by jury. IX. Verification Roy Den Hollander, being duly sworn, deposes and says that I am the plaintiff in this proceeding, have written the foregoing complaint and know the contents of, which are true to my knowledge and to those matters that I believe to be true. Roy en Hollander Plaintiff and attorney 545 East 14 St., 10D New York, NY 10009 (917) 687 0652 rdenhollander97 @gsb.columbia.edu Sworn to before me on 22nd day of Au ust 2016 Notary Pub ic KATHLINE VASQUEZ Notary Public • State of New York NO. 01VA6295692 Qualified In Queens County My Commission Expires Jan 6, 2018 15 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 1 of 30 EXHIBIT A A sampling of the Reporters’ false and misleading communications by wire to the public Format: News department Reporter Date (reverse chronological order) Medium or show Reporter’s quotes and/or presentation Message communicated Reporter’s falsity, prevarication and/or dissemblance CBS News Department Major Garrett August 15, 2016 CBS Evening News Garrett’s presentation: “Trump . . . had tough words about U.S. troops leaving Iraq at the end of 2011.” Trump soundbite, “They [Obama Administration] said we’re moving out. Here’s our time, here’s our date. Who would do this but an incompetent President?” Garrett, “Trump’s criticism left out the fact that President George W. Bush negotiated and approved the time line.” Garrett’s message: Trump wrongly believes President Obama was responsible for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and, therefore, Obama gave ISIS the opportunity to go from a JV team to a professional one. Garrett’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Garrett left out the fact that Obama had three years to negotiate a new agreement prior to the Bush agreed December 31, 2011, withdrawal date to keep some U.S. troops in Iraq. In fact, a day before President Bush signed the agreement, Gen. Ray Odierno, the former commander of the U.S. troops in Iraq, said the agreement might be renegotiated depending on conditions on the ground. “Three years is a very long time,” Odierno told the New York Times. Garrett also left out the fact that Leon Panetta, Obama’s defense secretary, warned that as the deadline of December 11, 2011, neared “it was clear to me — and many others — that withdrawing all our forces would endanger the fragile stability” in Iraq. As a result, the Obama administration sought to keep 5,000 to 10,000 U.S. combat troops in Iraq. Panetta said the Obama White House did not press hard enough to reach a deal with Prime Minister Maliki. Panetta wrote that the U.S. “had leverage” and could have “threatened to withdraw reconstruction aid” if Iraq didn’t agree to “some sort of continued U.S. military presence.” While Bush may be a but-for cause of ISIS’s rise to its current status, Obama is both a but-for and proximate cause for his JV team turning professional. Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 2 of 30 August 10, 2016 CBS Evening News Garrett’s presentation: Garrett played a Trump sound bite, “If she [Clinton] gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although, the Second Amendment people maybe there is; I don’t know.” Garrett, “The inference of violence [by Trump] arises in an atmosphere of suspicion that Trump helped create. . . . [Trump] warned supporters of abridged Second Amendment rights if [Clinton] is elected.” Trump sound bite, “[Clinton basically wants to take your safety away. She wants to take your guns away.” . . . . Garrett, “There is no proof to . . . [that] charge.” Garrett’s message: Trump inferred that supporters of the Second Amendment may engage in gun violence against Clinton or her judicial appointees if she is elected President. Trump is responsible for creating the false belief that Clinton wants to infringe on Americans Second Amendment rights. Garrett’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Garrett took the above Trump quote out of context of Trump’s speech in order to report that Trump inferred gun owners may engage in gun violence to protect their Second Amendment rights. Trump actually called upon the people not to vote for Clinton because of the danger her position on gun ownership would pose to Americans. Trump said, “[I]if you don’t do the right thing [in voting], either you’re not going to have a Second Amendment or you’re not going to have much of it left. And you’re not going to be able to protect yourself, which you need. . . . [W]hen the bad guys burst into your house, they’re not [thinking] . . . about [the] Second Amendment . . . . [T]he bad guys aren’t going to be giving up their weapons [under any Clinton restrictions on the Second Amendment]. But the good people will say, ‘oh, well, that’s the law.’” Garrett failed to explain that the Second Amendment right to own a gun is irrelevant if there are no guns to buy or ownership is onerous. Clinton’s policies will not only make it more difficult to legally acquire a gun but will enable crime victims to sue gun makers and gun sellers for crimes committed with lawfully made and initially lawfully purchased firearms. Once the door to such suits is opened, it will not be long until America’s gun industry disappears. August 1, 2016 CBS Evening News Garrett’s presentation: In mobilizing public opinion against Trump for his criticism of Khizr Khan who spoke at the DNC Convention while accompanied by his wife, Garrett used two interviews at Arlington Cemetery with two families that had members killed in combat. The member of family one said, “Trump has wronged the Khans. Trump is just trying to take away . . . the amazing bravery both of [the Khans] displayed going up there [at the DNC Convention]. The politicization of this began with Mr. Trump attacking people of the Muslim faith. He’s been doing it for a year.” The member of family two said, “At least honor the family.” 2 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 3 of 30 Garrett’s message: Trump is a bigot who hates all Muslims, even the ones who die defending America. Trump does not honor America’s veterans or their families. Trump lacks compassion. Garrett’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: While providing interviews whole heartedly supporting Khizr Khan’s criticisms of Trump at the DNC Convention, Garrett failed to provide the other side with interviews from Gold Star families that are critical of Hillary Clinton, or, that of the two presidential candidates, only Clinton is partly responsible for the Death of Khan’s son in the Iraq War because she voted for the war. Garrett also failed to point out a darker, exploitative reason for Kahn’s criticism of Trump. Khan, according to his website, kmkhanlaw.com, is an immigration lawyer who specializes in a highly controversial program accused of letting Middle Eastern immigrants buy their way into the U.S. Naturally, he is opposed to Trump’s immigration policies that propose a temporary ban on Muslims from states afflicted with radical Islamic terrorism. Apparently Khan was using the tragedy of his son’s death to help secure a future income stream by supporting Hillary Clinton and hiding facts about himself that call into question his credibility. Additionally, according to the New York State Court System, Khan’s law office’s principal address is at 415 Madison Avenue—a prestigious location for a New York law firm, which is want the public would believe on seeing the address. Khan’s law office, however, was in a “business hotel” called Regus, which is located on the 14th and 15th floors of 415 Madison Avenue. Regus rents furnished offices and supplies conference rooms and support staff on a short term and long term basis. According to Regus, Khan has not been at that location for at least seven years. If Khan advertised his law office at that address, and he no longer has an address there or it is a mere mail drop, it would be considered deceptive and misleading to anyone looking for a lawyer and in violation of the N.Y. Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1(a)(1) & 7.1(h). Right after his DNC Convention speech, Khan deleted his website, so it is uncertain whether he advertised the Madison Avenue address where he has not been for at least seven years. At the very least, Khan has tried to defraud the public into thinking he has a prestigious law firm in a prestigious part of New York City. Khan was also a member of the New York City Bar Association until 2011 when his membership was revoked for non-payment of dues. Further, Trump has not verbally attacked all Muslims, just the radical Islamists who want to kill anyone who does not believe as they do. Garrett failed to mention or interview any Muslim groups that support Trump’s Candidacy or report that 7.5 per cent of American Muslims support Trump’s candidacy. July 27, 2016 CBS Evening News Garrett’s quote: “Trump’s call for Russia cyber tampering.” Garrett’s message: Trump encouraged an unfriendly foreign power to engage in future espionage against Hillary Clinton. Garrett’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Garrett intentionally took out of context the following quote by Trump, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing” from Clinton’s private server. The quote does not infer that Trump was calling on Russia to subsequently engage in espionage against Clinton because any hacking of 3 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 4 of 30 her emails would already have had to occur since Clinton previously deleted those emails, and the server on which they were located had previously been taken off-line. Further, leading up to the quote, Trump made the qualification that if Russia had previously hacked Clinton’s personal emails, then it would be “interesting” to see those emails. “Interesting” to see emails that may have been previously hacked is not a call for a foreign power to start engaging in “cyber tampering” against an American. July 17, 2016 CBS Evening News Garrett’s quote: “A new CBS news poll showed 75% of voters in key swing states are pessimistic about the direction of the country—an anxiety team Trump tends to exploit.” Garrett’s message: The Trump campaign is meanly and unjustly using the anxiety of Americans to its own advantage. The Trump campaign is engaging in fear-mongering—the deliberate use of fear based tactics to influence the public in order to achieve a desired outcome. Garrett’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: It is not fear-mongering that has resulted in American pessimism, but that America is facing real problems, such as the actual unemployment rate is 9.8%, which includes people who have given up looking for work and those who are stuck in a part-time job for 20 or 25 hours a week. Since 1975, worker productivity has risen over two-fold while wages have largely remained stagnant. International trade agreements have resulted in the loss of good paying manufacturing jobs in the U.S. The cost of higher education is saddling students with crushing debt. A senior intelligence administration official says that ISIS is expected to continue going after so-called soft targets such as airports and shopping areas, which means the public. Campaigning to solve such problems is not exploitative, base, contemptible, selfish, or unjustifiable as Garrett infers, but what all political campaigns do when advocating a change in leadership. July 16, 2016 CBS Weekend News Garrett’s quotes: “Trump took his sweet time to get to Indiana Governor Mike Pence. . . . At times, Trump seemed to lose the point of the entire event [Trump’s VP pick making his first campaign appearance at a press conference]. . . . About eight minutes later . . . Trump got back to the task at hand. . . .” Garret’s message: Pence was not the focus of the press conference, since Trump dealt with him as an afterthought because Trump is forgetful, incapable of focusing, thinks only of himself and is oblivious of others. Garret’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: The news event was not the announcement that Pence would be Trump’s running mate—that was previously made on July 15. The event Garrett was covering was the first campaign press conference after the selection of Pence. In the first 4 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 5 of 30 four minutes of the press conference, Trump referred to the recent terrorist attacks in Nice, France and the Istanbul airport—what candidate for President would not have. Trump then began giving reasons why he chose Pence, reciting Pence’s accomplishments in Indiana, and comparing Pence’s governing record to Clinton’s, Pence’s integrity to Clinton’s, Pence’s foreign policy positions to Clinton and citing the policies and reasons on which the Trump-Pence ticket will win. Throughout his speech Trump used the pronoun “we” in reference to Pence. Garrett’s report created a false impression of what actually occurred. May 31, 2016 CBS Evening News Garrett’s communication: Garrett relied on interviews with two veterans to disparage Trump in raising $5.6 million dollars since January 2016 for veterans groups. One million of which Trump donated. Veteran number one: “What Donald Trump doesn’t understand is he cannot buy the vote of veterans of this country.” Veteran number two: “[Trump] has no integrity, and he has no interest in actually supporting veterans. He’s only interested in supporting himself.” Garrett’s message: Trump is not concerned with America’s veterans but uses them as political pawns. Garrett’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Garrett failed to talk to veterans on the other side of the story who thought such charity was laudable even though he or his producer had contacted 31 of the 41 veteran’s organizations who received the money raised by Trump. By leaving out veterans on the other side, Garrett intentionally create a false image that what Trump had done was not a good deed but a Machiavellian deed. NBC News Department Katy Tur August 15, 2016 NBC Nightly News Tur’s presentation: “Donald Trump’s message is clear. [Trump soundbite,] “Hillary Clinton’s policies launched ISIS on the world stage.” Tur, “Notably missing [from Trump’s National Security Speech], Trump’s past insistence that President Obama founded ISIS.” Tur’s message: Trump is wrong when he claims Obama “founded ISIS” and inconsistent in his positions. Tur’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: The word “found” means to set up or establish on a firm basis or for an enduring existence. ISIS was able to go from a JV team with maybe 40 active adherents to a professional worldwide Islamic terror organization with a defacto nation because America withdrew all its troops from Iraq in 2011. While President Bush agreed to the 5 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 6 of 30 2011 withdrawal deadline and agreed not to leave behind a residual force, the Obama administration, which included Clinton, didn’t try hard enough to renegotiate President Bush’s agreement. Leon Panetta said President Obama wasn’t actively engaged in the negotiations and allowed the opportunity to “slip away.” Therefore, Obama’s nonfeasance enabled ISIS to establish itself on a firm footing as the preeminent Islamic terrorist state in the world next to Iran. In effect, Obama aided and abetted the founding of ISIS by doing nothing to prevent it. Additionally, just because a candidate does not say the exact same thing everyday, does not infer inconsistency in positions. August 10, 2016 NBC Nightly New Tur’s quotes: “The report out today that the Secret Service spoke to [Trump] about those comments [interpreted by the media as suggesting Second Amendment people could act using guns against Hillary Clinton]. Both Trump and U.S. officials denying that. . . .” Sound bite of Trump, “If she [Clinton] gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although, the Second Amendment people maybe there is; I don’t know.” Tur’s message: The Secret Service most likely talked to Trump or his campaign about him suggesting violence against Clinton. Tur’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Tur started her piece affirmatively saying the Secret Service talked to Trump, which gave credence to her and the liberal media’s interpretation that Trump had advocated gun violence against Clinton or the judges she appoints if elected. However, the report of the Secret Service talking to Trump was false. Tur did not say that; instead she dissembled by saying both Trump and the Secret Service deny any discussions. It’s as if she shoots someone and then says, “Oh, I didn’t mean that.” Naturally, the harm is already done. Additionally, Tur took Trump’s quote out of context of his speech. Trump actually called upon people not to vote for Clinton because of the danger her position on gun ownership would pose to Americans. Trump said, “[I]if you don’t do the right thing [in voting], either you’re not going to have a Second Amendment or you’re not going to have much of it left.” July 31, 2016 NBC Nightly News Tur’s quotes: “[Donald Trump is] refusing to apologize [for his response to Khizr Khan’s DNC Convention speech], spinning accusations, and trying to change the subject. We’ve been here before, when he claimed Mexico was sending rapists and criminals over the border. When he refused to call John McCain a war hero. . . . When he accused President George W. Bush of being responsible for 9/11 and then fought with the Pope . . . . Trump repeatedly called Elizabeth Warren ‘Pocahontas’ . . . and implied President Obama sympathized with terrorists. Is he avoiding having to show any real substance? . . .[T]he most recent [controversies] his war of words with the Khans, the outrage taking questions away from questions on Donald Trump’s call on Russia to intervene with American politics . . . .” 6 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 7 of 30 Tur’s message: In this report’s litany of past events, Tur communicates that Trump’s campaign has not been about substance or policy because Trump is unable to compete in those grounds. It’s just about insulting sound bites. Tur’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: A review of Trump’s speeches and press conferences that Tur has covered show a concentration on policies and the candidate’s positions. Tur, as with other liberal mainstream reporters, chooses to report mainly sound bites that are not PC or can be spun into not being consistent with PC ideology. Tur’s report intentionally deleted Trump’s full sentence concerning Mexico, “They’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.” She only included “They’re rapists.” Concerning John McCain, Tur ignored Trump’s qualifying remarks with “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, OK? Perhaps he’s a war hero . . . .” Concerning 9/11, the C.I.A. repeatedly warned President Bush that a group presently in the United States was planning an imminent terrorist operation with major casualties, but Bush failed to take significant action. Trump did not assert that President Bush was “responsible” for 9/11. Such would depict Trump as believing in a conspiracy between Bush and the hijackers, which is the impression Tur intended in order to paint Trump as paranoid. While in Mexico, Pope Francis accused Trump of not being a Christian because Trump advocates a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to halt illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Trump responded to the Pope, “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.” The Vatican subsequently stated the Pope did not intend a personal attack on Trump or how Americans should vote. Tur, however, uses the incident to create the false impression that Trump has no respect for Christian religious leaders because he chose to defend against the unprovoked criticism of his religious beliefs by the Pope. Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly insulted Trump by calling him a loser, cheater, scammer, bully, racist, narcissist, misogynist, full of hot air, fear monger, money grubber and so forth. But when Trump responds by mockingly referring to Warren as Pocahontas, Tur condemns it as inappropriate even though Warren’s claim to being partially Native American is suspect. On Obama and terrorists, Trump asserted Obama did not understand the threat of radical Islamists— not that he commiserated with them. Tur prevaricated on the Kahn issue by failing to inform her listeners that Khan is an immigration lawyer who specializes in a highly controversial program accused of letting Middle Eastern immigrants buy their way into the U.S. Since Trump advocates a temporary ban on Muslims from states afflicted with radical Islamic terrorism that would clearly cut into Khan’s income. Finally, Tur chose to ignore Trump’s clear sarcasm in order to assert that Trump had called on Russia to intervene with American politics. Tur’s tactics: Tur’s reporting often dredges up past incidents concerning Trump, sometimes decades old, to advocate that Trump is unfit for the Presidency by painting these incidents in a negative light through falsehoods, prevarications or dissemblances. TV news reporters, unless creating a documentary, mainly focus on current events to keep the public up-to-date on what is occurring in the world. Tur, however, repeatedly repackages past events into an anti-Trump presentation to advocate that Americans should not elect Trump President. July 27, 2016 NBC Nightly News 7 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 8 of 30 Tur’s quotes: “Donald Trump sending shock waves around the world today encouraging a foreign government to hack Clinton’s emails.” Tur included a sound bite from a former U.S. ambassador to Russia who said, “I find it deeply troubling any American, let alone one running for President of the United States would encourage Russian espionage. That’s unprecedented.” Tur said, “Trump’s invitation to spy on an American politician drew immediate rebukes. Former C.I.A. Director Michael Hayden” . . . [said,] “He’s either inviting a foreign intelligence service to steal sensitive U.S. Government information or inviting a foreign intelligence service to violate the privacy of an individual . . . .” Tur’s message: Trump requested Russia to hack—that’s future tense—into Hillary Clintons’ emails. Trump requesting a foreign power to violate American law shows he is unfit to be President because he will violate the law to serve his own ends. Tur’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Tur’s accusation that Trump requested Russia to spy on Hillary Clinton by encouraging it to hack into her emails is false. Tur intentionally took out of context the following quote by Trump, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing” from Clinton’s private server. The quote does not infer that Trump was calling on Russia to subsequently engage in espionage against Clinton’s private servers because any hacking of her emails would have already occurred because Clinton previously deleted those emails and her private servers were previously taken off-line. Further, leading up to the quote, Trump said that if Russia had hacked Clinton’s personal emails, then it would be interesting to see those emails. “Interesting” to see emails that may have been previously hacked is not a call for future espionage by a foreign power against the U.S. Government or an American politician. July 16, 2016 NBC Nightly News Tur’s quotes: “Speaking for nearly a half an hour before introducing Pence. . . . And [Trump] dwelled on himself. . . . As usual Trump’s announcement was unusual. . . . He did it in a hotel ballroom in New York surrounded by friends, his children and even tourists off the street. . . . On stage Pence was as scripted as Donald Trump was unscripted.” Tur also included a sound bite criticizing Trump for not doing a good job credentialing Pence. Tur’s message: Trump is a narcissist as shown by speaking for nearly 30 minutes before introducing Pence and dwelling on himself. Trump does not consider his vice presidential pick important since the announcement was in a hotel with strangers off of the street attending to pack the audience. Trump rambled on for nearly 30 minutes without a script talking off the cuff while Pence’s remarks were well scripted as though Pence is nothing more than a puppet of the Trump campaign. Tur’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: The news event was not the announcement that Pence would be Trump’s running mate—that was previously made on July 15. The event Tur was covering was the first campaign press conference for both candidates after the selection of Pence as the vice presidential running mate. In the first four minutes of the press conference, 8 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 9 of 30 Trump talked about the latest terrorist attacks in Nice, France and the Istanbul airport. Trump then began giving reasons why he chose Pence, reciting Pence’s accomplishments in Indiana, lauding Pence’s integrity compared to Clinton’s, reviewing Pence’s foreign policy positions compared to Clinton’s and stating the policies and reasons on which the Trump-Pence ticket will win in November. Throughout his speech he used the pronoun “we” in reference to him and Pence. During Trump’s entire time speaking, he was referring to papers with scripted remarks. The same was true of Pence. The used of written remarks in a press conference does not infer the speaker is a puppet, rather that he is prepared. July 6, 2016 NBC Nightly News Tur’s quotes: “Trump blasting out a he said-she said rebuke [over Clinton’s private email use]. . . . [But then] Trump drew attention away from the [Clinton] email scandal by again praising Saddam Hussein at a rally in Raleigh.” Trump said, “[Hussein] killed terrorists. He did that so good.” Tur also included a sound bite from an NBC News PC pundit, “He could have had the whole Republican Party singing off a single song sheet. Instead, he got himself off script and you see Republicans in this sort of perpetual state of disarray.” Tur said, “Trump’s rhetoric is a liability to some independents in Ohio, even ones who don’t like Clinton.” Tur’s Message: Trump is dangerous because he approves of and holds in esteem dictators who murder thousands of their people. Trump lacks the presidential trait of being able to stay on point and concentrate without going into tangential rhetorical irrelevancies. Tur’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Tur failed to report that Trump spent more than an hour on stage addressing Clinton’s emails, telling the crowd he will defend the second amendment, pledging to protect the nation’s borders with a wall, and will destroy ISIS. He also told the crowd that he’s going to bring jobs back to America, get rid of Common Core and get rid of Obamacare. Tur chose to discount and be-little Trump’s remarks on the Clinton email scandal by characterizing them as typical exaggerations and falsehoods that occur in a romantic dispute between a man and a woman when there are no other witnesses. The witness, in the form of the F.B.I., however, called Clinton’s use of private email servers for national security secrets as “extremely careless,” which is considerably more serious than Tur’s false characterization of Trump’s remarks as merely “he said-she said.” Additionally, out of over an hour speech in which Trump repeatedly referred to scripted remarks, Tur chose to focus on Trump saying Saddam Hussein did a good job at killing terrorists to create the false impression that Trump admires that type of leader and infer that a President Trump might adopt some of Hussein’s governing policies. Tur intentionally left out Trump’s disapproval of Hussein when Trump said he was “a really bad guy” in order to create her false impression. June 1, 2016 NBC Nightly News Tur’s quotes: “3,500 legal actions in the past three decades, Donald Trump is officially the most 9 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 10 of 30 litigious presidential nominee in U.S. history. The class action lawsuit against him [and Trump University] has many wondering if he may have made millions off the backs of struggling Americans. . . . Now the defunct for-profit university is accused of crushing [the American dream], scamming hopeful students with aggressive sales tactics and false promises. . . . [T]estimony from one [University] sales manager saying Trump University was a fraudulent scheme that preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money. Another sales executive saying it was just selling false hopes and lies. . . . [One] plaintiff . . . said he drained his retirement to pay Trump University.” The sound bite from this plaintiff accused Trump of using the same deceptive tactics in running for President as he did in promoting Trump University. Tur’s message: Trump is an unethical con-artist who is only interested in himself and making money. He’s willing to trick the elderly and those not as educated as him out of their last penny. The fraud that Trump committed with the University is similar to the fraud he’s trying to perpetrate on the country in his Presidential campaign. Tur’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Since Trump is the only candidate to run for President who has a multi-billion dollar business, it is reasonable to expect that his business—not him personally, but his business—will over four decades be involved in numerous civil lawsuits as are other large businesses. It’s the America way, not the Japanese way for solving disputes. As for the Trump University case, there are two sides to every lawsuit: the plaintiffs’ allegations and the defendants’ defenses and counterclaims. Tur’s over two minutes long piece focused exclusively on the plaintiff’s allegations and the ramifications of those allegations except for a four second soundbite from a former student who characterize the courses he took as “outstanding.” By failing to provide equal or even a semblance of equal time to both sides in the lawsuit, Tur intentionally created the false impression that Trump University was a fraud before the case has even gone to trial. Chuck Todd August 7, 2016 Meet the Press Todd’s quote: “For months, Trump has been teflon. Now unraveling is an understatement. Trump's campaign appears to be one gaffe away from a full implosion.” Todd’s message: Trump will most likely commit another PC gaffe, so it is time for the American public to abandon their support of him and vote for Clinton. Todd’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Ever since Trump announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015, Todd has been predicting that it would fail because of Trump’s inappropriate character traits and speech. The voters, therefore, should turn to Hillary Clinton the only other realistic alternative in the race. 10 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 11 of 30 July 31, 2016 Meet the Press Chuck Todd conducted an eight minute interview with Khizr Khan, the immigration lawyer who criticized Trump’s immigration policies at the DNC Convention. Chuck Todd said to Khan, “Look, your speech was one of the most memorable and emotional moments of the convention.” Todd gave Khan carte blanche to voice his criticism of Trump and wax patriotic about the electoral process: “[Trump’s] rhetoric of hatred, of derision, of dividing us. . . . This is a political process [Presidential election]. It’s a wonderful, beautiful political process. But in that political process, there are some moral, ethical values of this country that need to be maintained and managed. . . . I implore those patriotic Americans that would probably vote for Donald Trump in November, I appeal to them not to vote for hatred, not to vote for fear mongering. Vote for unity [the message of Clinton’s campaign]. Vote for the goodness of this country.” Todd’s message: Trump is a hate filled, fear mongering candidate lacking American moral values and voters should not vote for him. Todd’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Todd failed to inquire into Khan’s motivations and the basis of his accusations—most likely because Todd feared showing Khan to be a hypocrite with hidden pecuniary motives. Todd did not raise the fact that Khan is an immigration lawyer who specializes in a highly controversial program accused of letting Middle Eastern immigrants buy their way into the U.S. A program being looked into by Homeland Security as a possible way for allowing radical Islamic terrorists into America to kill Americans. Since Trump advocates a temporary ban on Muslims from states afflicted with radical Islamic terrorism, including many in the Mid-East, that would clearly cut into Khan’s income. Khan is not a rich man. His membership in the New York City Bar Association was revoked in 2011for non-payment of dues. Khan, therefore, exploited his opportunity to speak at the DNC Convention by using it to help secure a future income stream with the election of Hillary Clinton. Nor did Todd challenge Khan’s hypocrisy on ethical values. According to the New York State Court System, Khan’s law office’s principal address is at 415 Madison Avenue—a prestigious location for a New York law firm, which is what members of the public would think. Khan’s law office, however, was in a “business hotel” called Regus, which is located on the 14th and 15th floors of 415 Madison Avenue. Regus rents furnished offices and supplies conference rooms and support staff on a short term and long term basis. According to Regus, Khan has not been at that location for at least seven years. If Khan advertises his law office at that address, and he no longer has an address there or it is a mere mail drop, it would be considered deceptive and misleading to the public in violation of the N.Y. Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1(a)(1) & 7.1(h). Just after his DNC Convention speech, Khan deleted his website, so it is uncertain whether he advertised the Madison Avenue address where he has not been for at least seven years. So, Khan has engaged in at least three frauds on the American public in his typical lawyer pretense of defending American motherhood and apple pie. Todd kept hidden all three in order to reduce Trump’s chances of becoming President. 11 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 12 of 30 July 27, 2016 NBC Nightly News Chuck Todd’s quote concerning Trump’s statement, “Russia, if you are listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing [from Clinton’s private server]”: Todd emotionally said with patriotic fervor, “This is a violation of the sovereignty of the country . . . this was public encouragement [by Trump] of Russia [hacking into Clinton’s private email servers].” Todd’s message: Trump is unpatriotic because he violated the sovereignty of the U.S. by asking Russia to hack into Clinton’s private email servers and release the 33,000 emails that Clinton failed to turn over to the Department of State. Todd’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Todd intentionally mixed up the present tense with past events to create a false accusation. Trump did not request that Russia go out and start conducting espionage against Clinton to obtain the 33,000 emails she deleted from her servers because Clinton had already deleted them and the servers holding them had been taken off-line. Todd also intentionally failed to recognize the sarcasm of Trump’s remark, but even so, at most Todd could only accuse Trump of asking Russia to release those deleted emails if it had acquired them—that’s past tense. Such is a long way from encouraging, which means to presently spur on, the “violation of the sovereignty of the country.” July 21, 2016 NBC News Republican Convention Todd’s quote: “I thought it was an extraordinarily dark speech [Trump’s acceptance speech]. . . . But, I tell you, it was dark.” Message communicated: America is still a great nation and Trump is merely pandering to negativism and exaggerating the problems facing America. Todd’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: America’s real unemployment rate is 9.8%, which includes people who have given up looking for work and those who are stuck in a part-time job for 20 or 25 hours a week. Since 1975, worker productivity has risen over two-fold while wages have largely remained stagnant. America has been losing good paying manufacturing jobs as a result of international trade agreements. Many illegal aliens work in the underground economy where they pay no taxes while collecting Government benefits paid for by law abiding U.S. citizens—the illegals get free stuff just by being in America. After some 12,000 air strikes over the past 21 months in Iraq and Syria, costing $7 billion, Operation Inherent Resolve’s progress in Iraq and Syria has varied. ISIS has lost 40 percent of its territory in Iraq, but only 11 percent in Syria. A senior intelligence administration official said ISIS is expected to continue going after so-called soft targets such as airports and shopping areas—killing innocent civilians. “It’s not a sign of weakness or desperation. They are adapting in a different way.” 12 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 13 of 30 July 8, 2016 NBC Nightly News Todd’s quote: “[Trump] is believing every conspiracy theory and fact that he finds on the Internet and not the ones that are straightforward.” Todd’s message: Trump is delusional, unable to grasp reality, and bases his rhetoric on any unsubstantiated assertion found on the Internet. Todd’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Todd makes a serious accusation, but it is a mere generality without specific examples as a basis and is used to reinforce the PC criticism that Trump is not sufficiently knowledgeable to be President. July 6, 2015 NBC Nightly News Todd’s quotes: “[T]here’s no split on the fact [that Republicans] all think Trump is doing damage [to the Party]. . . . Trump’s name [may] become synonymous for Democrats . . . to be able to say Republican Party, they don’t like Hispanics. . . . Trump has no shame. He’ll say whatever is necessary to beat you [another candidate for the nomination] back.” Todd’s message: Don’t vote for Trump because he will cripple the Republican Party, Trump is a ruthless individual and bigot who lies to win. Todd’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Trump ended up receiving more votes than any other Republican candidate in the primaries in modern history. Trump’s criticism of Hispanics, as well as other illegal immigrants, is limited to those who violate American law. Crossing the U.S. border once without permission is a misdemeanor, twice is a felony—both are crimes. Further, it is not Trump, but Clinton whom the F.B.I. found was not telling the truth to the American public about her use of private email servers. June 17, 2015 NBC Nightly News Todd’ quote: “On the one hand [Trump] is a late night joke. On the other he’s the proverbial skunk at the garden party.” Todd’s message: Trump’s candidacy is that of a fool, spoiler and scoundrel trying to win the Presidency. Todd’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Todd is simply resorting to grammar school playground name calling by expressing his hatred of Trump with epithets. 13 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 14 of 30 June 16, 2015 NBC Nightly News Todd’s quote: “[Trump] is a media bully.” Todd’s message: Todd employed the current popular PC epithet for characterizing a person as barbaric, lacking in compassion for others and habitually cruel to those who are weaker and defenseless just to satisfy his sadistic urges. Todd’ falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: If Trump believed in PC ideology as Todd does, the description would be charismatic. The influential Todd was simply laying the ground work for the media to prevent Trump from obtaining the Presidency by tearing him down with PC ad hominem attacks. ABC News Department Thomas Llamas August 16, 2016 ABC World News Llamas’s quotes: “Following disastrous weeks fueled by off-the-cuff remarks, Trump is trying to stay on message, delivering his plan to combat terror with the help of a teleprompter.” Llamas’s message: Trump is the lesser of the two candidates running for the Presidency because he needs a teleprompter to keep from saying something that crosses the line. Llamas’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Clinton and Obama use teleprompters more often than Trump. Also most of Trump’s so-called “crossing the line” remarks are nothing more than an overly PC press taking his remarks out of context. August 1, 2016 ABC World News Llamas’s presentation: Llamas quoted Khizr Khan, “Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims . . . . [Trump] is a black soul and this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country.” Llamas included sound bites criticizing Trump for a lack of morality in defending himself from Khan’s verbal attacks: Senator John McCain criticized Trump by saying the Republican nominee does not have “an unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us,” and Warren Buffet, “I ask Donald Trump have you no sense of decency.” Llamas concluded with reporting, “[the Veterans of Foreign Wars] saying they will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of freedom of speech and expression.” 14 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 15 of 30 Llamas’s message: Trump is a bigot, evil, lacks a moral code and un-American. Llamas’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Llamas failed to provide the other side of the story—Khan’s disqualifications as a trustworthy source of criticism of Trump. Llamas intentionally kept hidden from his audience problems with Khan’s credibility. Khan is an immigration lawyer who specializes in a highly controversial program accused of letting Middle Eastern immigrants buy their way into the U.S. Since Trump advocates a temporary ban on Muslims from states afflicted with radical Islamic terrorism that would clearly cut into Khan’s income. Khan is using his new found notoriety to help secure a future income stream by advocating for the election of Hillary Clinton. As for Khan’s credibility in judging the ethical values and decency in the souls of others, according to the New York State Court System, Khan’s principal law office address is 415 Madison Avenue. N.Y., N.Y.—a prestigious location for a New York law firm, which is what members of the public would think. Khan’s law office, however, is in a “business hotel” called the Regus, which is located on the 14th and 15th floors of 415 Madison Avenue. Regus rents furnished offices and supplies conference rooms and support staff on a short term and long term basis. According to Regus, Khan has not been at that location for at least seven years. If Khan advertises his law office at that address, and he no longer has an address there or it is a mere mail drop, it would be considered deceptive and misleading to the public in violation of the N.Y. Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1(a)(1) & 7.1(h). Subsequent to Khan’s DNC Convention speech, he deleted his website, so it is uncertain whether he advertised the Madison Avenue address where he has not been for at least seven years. July 27, 2016 ABC World News Llamas’s quotes: “Tonight, Donald Trump with a message to Russia: hack Hillary Clinton’s emails from her time as Secretary of State, and release them publicly.” Llamas included a Trump sound bite, “Russia, if you are listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing . . .” Llamas continued, “And Trump not backing away from encouraging cyber espionage.” Llamas also quoted from a statement by Clinton’s top foreign policy adviser calling Trump’s remarks a “national security issue . . . . This has to be the first time that a major Presidential Candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent.” Llamas said, “Trump has courted Russian billionaires close to Putin to invest in his projects. One of them hosted Trump’s Miss Universe pageant in Moscow three years ago. Now growing questions about whether Trump has business deals in Russia, and whether the proof lies in his tax returns, which he is refusing to release.” Llamas’s message: Trump is a dangerous threat to America’s national security by requesting that Putin conduct espionage on Hillary Clinton and that Putin may agree to the request because of the close connections that Trump has with Putin’s inner circle—a connection that Trump is likely hiding by refusing to release his tax returns. Llamas’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Llamas intentionally mixed up the present tense with past events to create a false news report. Trump did not request that Putin go out and start conducting espionage against Clinton to find the 33,000 missing emails because any hacking of 15 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 16 of 30 those emails would have already occurred since Clinton previously deleted them and the servers holding them have been taken off-line. Llamas also intentionally failed to recognize the sarcasm of Trump’s remark, but even so, at most Llamas could only accuse Trump of asking Russia to release those deleted emails if it had them—that’s past tense. Such is a long way from encouraging future espionage. To bolster Llamas’s false accusation that Trump made a request that Putin might grant by subsequently engaging in espionage, Llamas creates a false impression that Trump is well connected with Putin’s inner circle. In reality, since 1996, Trump has tried but failed to develop real estate projects in Russia—Putin succeeded as President in 1999. Jose Pagiery, Donald Trump’s ties to Russia explained, CNN Money, July 31, 2016. The Miss Universe pageant was hosted in Moscow—Putin never attended, and Trump no longer owns the pageant’s parent company. Id. Vodka made in the Netherlands with Trump’s name on the bottles was sold in Russia, but only 8,000 cases. None of these events are indications that Trump has influence with Putin’s inner circle. On Trump’s tax returns, the reason for not releasing them is that tax experts warn that releasing the returns during an audit could cause anyone who has a grievance with the taxpayer to misuse the released information and try to intervene in the audit process for their own personal, financial or political gain. July 16, 2016 ABC World News Llamas’s quotes: “Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence joining forces after a rocky rollout. . . . Trump speaking for nearly 30 minutes before introducing Pence on stage, riffing on his primary wins, Brexit and Hillary Clinton . . . . Promoting his new Washington hotel . . . . But how about that running mate? Hillary Clinton’s campaign seizing on Trump’s apparent indecisiveness [choosing a VP candidate] with a new video. . . .” The video has Trump stating over a few weeks his whittling down the number of candidates for VP. Llamas’s message: Trump disrespected Pence because he spoke for nearly 30 minutes before introducing Pence in which he talked about himself and other topics while ignoring Pence. Trump lacks a consideration of others and the Presidential requirement of decisiveness. Llamas’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: The news event was not the announcement that Pence would be Trump’s running mate—that was previously made on July 15. The event Llamas was covering was the first campaign press conference for both candidates after the selection of Pence as the Vice Presidential running mate. In the first four minutes of the press conference, Trump talked about the latest terrorist attacks in Nice, France and the Istanbul airport, as would any candidate for President. Trump then began giving reasons why he chose Pence, citing Pence’s accomplishments in Indiana, lauding Pence’s integrity compared to Clinton’s, reviewing Pence’s foreign policy positions compared to Clinton’s and stating the policies and reasons on which the Trump-Pence ticket would win in November. Throughout his speech Trump used the pronoun “we” in reference to him and Pence. Trump spent about three weeks making the crucial decision of who might end up as President if Trump were elected and subsequently died. Such is not indecisiveness but careful consideration in reaching an important decision. Llamas used a Clinton propaganda video to depict Trump as being overwhelmed by the decision when he simply kept the media informed of the number of remaining candidates. 16 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 17 of 30 May 31, 2016 ABC World News Llamas’s quotes: “Donald Trump . . . unloading on reporters for questioning just how much money he raised for veterans groups. . . . In January, Trump claimed he raised $6 million at this Iowa event, including a million from his own pocket. Trump’s campaign manager recently suggested the total amount raised was closer to $4.5 million and Trump’s own million . . . was only made last week. The night of that Iowa fundraiser, you [Trump] said you had raised six million dollars. Clearly you had not. Your critics say you tend to exaggerate; you have a problem with the truth. Is this a prime example?” Trump sound bite, “No. I raised almost $6 million. Some of it didn’t come through. . . .” Llamas continued, “For months, Trump would not reveal the full list of Veterans groups who received money. He claims he was vetting them. . . . ABC News reached out to all 41 groups, and spoke with most of them. Some told us they received the money months ago, but others say they only got it last week, as Trump was facing mounting questions about those donations.” Llamas’s message: Trump is a liar. He claims he did a good deed, but if reporters had not pressed him on how much and where the money went, many of the Veterans’ groups would not have received it. In fact, Trump might have kept the money for himself. Llamas’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: When the Jerry Lewis Telethon raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association or PBS conducts a telethon for funds, people call in and pledge an amount. The telethons keep a running total of the amount pledged and refer to it as the amount raised. Jerry Lewis’ Telethon kept a running total on a large tote board for the audience to watch the progress. Not all pledges come through, people cancel their credit card commitments or decide against writing a check, so the total amount pledged often differs from the amount actually received. Additionally, telethons cannot give money away until they actually receive it, and it takes time to collect much of it. Further, it is necessary to make sure the money that is received goes to a legitimate group. These reasons explain why some Veterans groups received money quickly and others later—not as Llamas falsely infers that reporters were pressing Trump on the matter. So Trump’s announcement of the $6 million raised at the time of the fundraiser was the amount pledged, which Llamas as a major TV reporter should have known. The amount referred to by Trump’s campaign manager most likely represented the amount actual received at that time, which would be different than the pledged total because not all the money that would eventually be received had been received. Trump’s delay in giving one million dollars was probably because he was preoccupied running for the Presidency. Clearly Llamas realized all of this but chose to hide the facts and create a false impression in order to paint Trump as a lair and possibly a crook. August 20, 2015 Good Morning America Llamas’s virulent effort to censure Trump’s speech for using the term “anchor babies,” which refers to illegal aliens intentionally giving birth to children on American soil whereby the child automatically becomes a U.S. citizen and reduces the chance that the parents will be deported. 17 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 18 of 30 Llamas rebuked Trump saying, “That’s an offensive term! People find that hurtful.” Trump retorted, “You mean it’s not political correct and yet everybody uses it?” Llamas exploded, “Look it up in the dictionary. It’s offensive!” Llamas’s message: Trump is bigoted against illegal aliens, and his speech is not politically correct; therefore, it should be censured. Llamas’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: The U.S. Supreme Court disagrees with Llamas. The court held that “[i]t is firmly settled that under our Constitution the public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because the ideas are themselves offensive to some of their hearers.” Street v. New York, 394 U.S. 576, 592 (1969). CNN Jim Acosta July 31, 2016 State of the Union Acosta’s presentation: “Trump in response [to Khizr Khan] compared his business success to the death of Khan’s son.” Acosta played a shorten version of Trump’s interview with George Stephanopoulos and then interviewed Khan who said, “[Trump is the] height of ignorance on the part of a candidate for the highest office of this nation. Two things are absolutely necessary in any leader or any person that aspires, wishes, to be a leader. That is moral compass and second is empathy. This candidate [Trump] is void of both traits that are necessary for the stewardship of this country.” Acosta’s message: Trump is morally corrupt because he believes making money is the equivalent of dying for one’s country. Acosta’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Trump never compared building his business to the death of Khan’s son. Trump merely answered Stephanopoulos’ question of what sacrifices he has made. Acosta allowed Khan to freely criticize Trump’s “moral compass” without inquiring into Khan’s credibility to make such an accusation, which would have revealed Khan’s hypocrisy. Khan revealed his wrong-way “moral compass” of engaging in fraud by never disclosing that he is an immigration lawyer who specializes in a highly controversial program accused of letting Middle Eastern immigrants buy their way into the U.S. A program that Homeland Security is looking into for the possibility of allowing terrorists into the U.S. Since Trump advocates a temporary ban on Muslims from states afflicted with radical Islamic terrorism, including those in the Mid-East, such would clearly cut into Khan’s income. Khan is clearly using his new found notoriety to help secure a future income stream by advocating for the election of Hillary Clinton even though Clinton was in part responsible for the death of Khan’s son because she voted for the war in Iraq. In order to hide his real motive for criticizing Trump, Khan quickly deleted his law firm website following his DNC speech because it showed the type of immigration law he practices. In trying to cover-up his fraud on the American people, Khan 18 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 19 of 30 failed to realize that Google keeps a “cache” of a website’s index page. It is from the “cache” that it became known that Khan’s true motivation was to secure a future income stream, not his disingenuous lawyer’s rant about truth, justice and the American way. Khan’s “moral compass” is also corrupted by his dissemblance concerning his law office. According to the New York State Court System, Khan’s principal law office address is 415 Madison Avenue. N.Y., N.Y.—a prestigious location for a New York law firm, which is how the public would view such an address. Khan’s law office, however, is in a “business hotel” called the Regus, which is located on the 14th and 15th floors of 415 Madison Avenue. Regus rents furnished offices and supplies conference rooms and support staff on a short term and long term basis. According to Regus, Khan has not been at that location for at least seven years. If Khan advertises his law office at that address, and he no longer has an address there, or it is a mere mail drop, it would be considered deceptive and misleading to the public in violation of the N.Y. Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1(a)(1) & 7.1(h). Since Khan deleted his website, it is uncertain whether he advertised the Madison Avenue address where he has not been for at least seven years. May 26, 2016 Situation Room Acosta’s presentation: “[Trump] generating immediate controversy . . . in Bismarck [North Dakota] with the Native American community [by referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas”]. Should you use that term? [One] Native American woman told reporters her people are more than a Disney Movie.” Acosta’s sound bite of the woman had her saying, “Mr. Trump and his tone was offensive . . . .” Acosta’s message: Trump is bigoted against people who were indigenous to North America before Columbus. Acosta’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Acosta interviewed one Native American woman and implied that she represented the entire Native American community, which believes Trump’s use of the term “Pocahontas” violates PC rules by being “offensive.” One interview does not reflect the sentiment of 5.4 million people, so Acosta reporting that the use of the term “Pocahontas” created a controversy with that community was unfounded. Acosta clearly personally agrees with the lady that the term was offensive because he asked Trump, “Should you use that term?” On information and belief, Acosta does not question Elizabeth Warren calling Trump “a small insecure money grubber, nasty man, bully, racists, sexist, fraudster, etc.” May 25, 2016 Situation Room Acosta’s quote: “Trump is fighting battles on multiple fronts and all of his targets have one thing in common, they are all high-profile women and they are all hitting back. Donald Trump is on the general election warpath . . . .” Acosta’s message: Trump is bigoted against strong independent women. 19 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 20 of 30 Acosta’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Just because Trump doesn’t meekly put up with ad hominem insults from Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren does not infer he’s bigoted against high-profile women. This is a political campaign and political campaigns are verbal wars between opposing candidates and supporters—regardless of the sex of the participants. May 18, 2016 Situation Room Acosta’s quote: “Donald Trump is off the campaign trail, keeping busy trying to look presidential, releasing a list of Supreme Court picks to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia and . . . meeting with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.” Acosta’s message: Trump is not presidential material, although he tries to look the part. Acosta’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Acosta was trying to demean Trump as all show and no substance for naming potential Supreme Court appointees and meeting with a wellrespected Republican Party elder. A key issue in the 2016 election is the type of Supreme Court judges the next President will appoint. Trump has provided a tentative list while Clinton has provided none. So how could it be that Trump’s conduct to inform the electorate is disparaged while Clinton’s failure to inform the electorate is acceptable? Clinton often meets with well known Democratic figures, such as President Obama, but according the Acosta that is not “trying to look presidential.” May 12, 2016 Situation Room Acosta’s quotes: “Donald Trump is all but declaring victory after his performance on Capitol Hill . . . . It was as expected a circus as Donald Trump came to Washington [D.C.] in search of a GOP big tent large enough to hold his renegade campaign and the party establishment he hopes to win over.” Acosta’s message: Trump is not a serious Presidential candidate but an actor playing a circus role. Acosta’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Presents a false image of a man who created a multi-billion dollar empire and won more Republican primary votes than any other person in modern history as nothing more than a circus clown. March 5, 2016 Americas Choice Acosta’s quotes: “I asked Donald Trump at one point . . . . What about the talk about your manhood during the last debate . . . .? Should the discourse be higher? . . . He was blaming 20 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 21 of 30 Marco Rubio in terms of the question about the size of his hands . . . . So Donald Trump not really taking any responsibility for the level of discourse that he is bringing to this campaign, even though it is a major bone of contention inside the Republican Party right now.” Acosta’s message: Trump is the candidate who is responsible for putting the Republican presidential campaign in the gutter. Acosta’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Rubio insulted Trump on the campaign trail before the Fox News March 3, 2016, debate by claiming the business mogul had “small hands,” and implying that smallness extends to other parts of Trump’s body. Many criticized Rubio for dragging down the tone of the nation’s political debate, but Acosta blames Trump. A couple of days after the debate, Acosta himself dragged the discourse into the gutter by asking “What about the business of the other night at the Fox News debate you seemed to talk about the size of your manhood?” Acosta did not include his vulgar question in the report he filed probably because his question was met by boos from other reporters at a Trump press conference. New York Times and PBS News Hour David Brooks July 31, 2016 Meet the Press Brooks’s quotes: “One final point. This wasn’t just a comment about Mr. Khan. This is a campaign based on bigotry. His campaign took off after San Bernardino and banning Muslims from coming here. We just saw the face of Muslims [referring to Khizr Khan], that is the reality.” Brooks’s message: Trump is bigoted against all Muslims, such as Khizr Khan, and appealing to bigoted Americans. Brooks’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Trump’s campaign was ahead of all the other Republican campaigns prior to San Bernardino and his call for a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants. The San Bernardino radical Islamists’ massacre occurred December 2, 2015, and Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country on December 8, 2015. On November 23, 2015, Trump led Carson 32% to 22%, in a poll by The Washington Post and ABC News. In a Fox News poll, Trump led Carson 28% to 18%. In the Washington Post/ABC News poll, Rubio was in third at 11%, followed by Cruz at 8%, Bush at 6% and former tech CEO Carly Fiorina at 4%. In the Fox News poll, Rubio and Cruz were tied at 14% and Bush had 5%. In both polls, no other candidates topped 3%. So Trump’s campaign had actually taken off before the San Bernardino massacre. In referring to Khizr Khan as the type of Muslim Trump does not want in America, Brooks failed to include that Khan’s immigration practice obtains visas for wealthy Middle Easterners through a program that Homeland Security is concerned may allow radical jihadists into the country to kill Americans. 21 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 22 of 30 July 28, 2016 New York Times: The Democrats Win the Summer. Brooks quotes: Trump has abandoned the Judeo-Christian aspirations that have always represented America’s highest moral ideals: toward love, charity, humility, goodness, faith, temperance and gentleness. . . . Trump has also abandoned the American ideal of popular selfrule. . . . [O]ur founders wanted active engaged citizens, not a government run by a solipsistic [egoistic] and self-appointed savior who wants everything his way. . . . Trump has abandoned the deep and pervasive optimism that has always energized the American nation. . . . [Trump is on the] lunatic fringe. [Trump] . . . is a morally untethered, spiritually vacuous man who appears haunted by multiple personality disorders.” Brooks’s message: Trump lacks ethics and compassion, is an uncivilized, uncouth and bad person who believes himself to be the second coming. He does not believe in democracy and is mentally ill. Brooks’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Brooks fails to provide any factual basis for his conclusion that Trump has abandoned Judeo-Christian mores. Trump often speaks of love and compassion in his speeches. Trump has not abandoned the democratic idea of self-rule. Selfrule is brought about by voting, and Trump garnered more Republican votes than any other modern Republican candidate in the primaries, which is what made him the Republican nominee. Neither Trump nor Clinton are saviors, but if they were, neither was self-appointed—both won their respective primaries with votes. Trump received 13 million votes in a field of 17 candidates while Hillary Clinton received 16 million votes in a field of five candidates. Factoring in the number of competitors splitting the votes shows Trump as more popular than Clinton. It’s not Trump who has abandon American optimism but reality. The middle class is no longer a majority of the nation’s population. For the wealthy and influential, such as Brooks, times are good; for many other Americans, however, there is a jarring and unfamiliar sense of uncertainty. The real unemployment rate is 9.8% and wages have pretty much stagnated since 1975 while work productivity has doubled. Additionally, Brooks has neither the qualifications nor facts necessary to conclude that Trump has mental disorders, is amoral, or is spiritually empty. July 22, 2016 New York Times Brooks’s quotes: “Welcome to a world without rules. . . . Welcome to a world in which families are mowed down by illegal immigrants, in which cops die in the streets, in which Muslims rampage the innocents and threaten our very way of life, in which the fear of violent death lurks in every human heart. Sometimes in that blood-drenched world a dark knight arises. You don’t have to admire or like this knight. But you need this knight. He is your muscle and your voice in a dark, corrupt and malevolent world. Such has been the argument of nearly every demagogue since the dawn of time. . . . And such was Donald Trump’s law-and-order argument in Cleveland [RNC Conventions] on Thursday night.” 22 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 23 of 30 Brooks’s message: Trump is engaging in fear-mongering by falsely depicting the state of America today. Trump is following in a long line of evil doers who try to manipulate the public’s fears with deception in order to attain a political end. Brooks’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Ironically, Brooks is engaging in the same tactic of which he accuses Trump. In order to sway the public not to elect Trump, Brooks has become a running “Daisy” advertisement aired in 1964, “These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark,” under the Dark Knight. Back then the Dark Knight was Barry Goldwater—now it’s Trump. The situation for Americans is not as Brooks professes. More than 3,000 U.S citizens lose their lives each year due to illegal alien drivers. Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee. According to Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, it is twelve Americans who are killed every day by illegal aliens, or 4,380 are mowed down by illegal alien drivers every year. As for murder, illegals likely commit murder at about 10 times the rate of all U.S. inhabitants. American Thinker, July 13, 2015. There are about 240,000 illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States who have had an average of four victims each. Violent Crimes Institute of Atlanta, November 28, 2006. The number of police officers shot and killed in the USA is 44% higher than at this time [July] of last year [2015]. USA Today, July 9, 2016. Since Bill Clinton took office, over 3,000 American have been murdered on U.S. soil by Muslims—more than any other country, except Iraq. Wikipedia. Americans’ fear of terror attacks are at there peak since 9/11. New York Times/CBS News poll, December 2015. Brooks adopts the Clinton PC Pollyanna delusion about the state of America by ignoring reality and its warnings. Brooks probably would have called Winston Churchill a “Dark Knight” in 1930s England. July 19, 2016 New York Times: Trump Is Getting Even Trumpier! Brooks’s quotes: “Does anybody else have the sense that Donald Trump is slipping off the rails? . . . . There’s sort of a gravitational narcissistic pull that takes command whenever he attempts to utter a compound thought. . . . This is a unique moment in American political history in which the mental stability of one of the major party nominees is the dominating subject of conversation. . . . Psychologists wonder if narcissists are defined by extremely high self-esteem or by extremely low self-esteem that they are trying to mask. The current consensus seems to be that they are marked by unstable self-esteem. . . . [Trump is a] brutal strongman. If the string of horrific events [terrorism] continues, Trump could win the presidency. And he could win it even though he has less and less control over himself.” Brooks’s message: Trump is mentally unstable, out of control, and becoming more so. Trump’s mental instability for a brutal strongman like him poses great danger to America if elected President. Brooks’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: David Brooks is not a psychologist, nor a psychiatrist, nor a therapist who has Trump as his patient; therefore, Brooks is uniquely unqualified and lacking in sufficient facts to render conclusions concerning Trump’s psychological state. In 2012, an actual psychologist, Duke University Professor Allen Frances, 23 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 24 of 30 called on Brooks to “stop being an amateur psychologist. What Brooks doesn’t know about psychology is a lot,” Frances wrote in the Huffington Post. “Everything he says about it has a shallow ring, is misinformed, and displays the same bias and ulterior motive. Brooks is a complacent apologist for the status quo.” July 17, 2016 PBS News Hour Brooks quote: “This campaign is in part a debate between an ardent nationalist, which Donald Trump is sort of a European-style blood-and-soil nationalist, vs. a candidate on the Democratic side who is more of a globalist, who believes in global institutions.” Brook’s message: Trump is another Adolf Hitler. Brook’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: The phrase “blood-and-soil” was popularized by Richard Walther Darré in a 1930 book called Neuadel aus Blut und Boden (A New Nobility Based on Blood and Soil). It proposed a systemic eugenics program, arguing for breeding as a cure-all for all the problems plaguing Germany. Darré was an influential member of the Nazi Party and a noted race theorist who assisted the party greatly in gaining support among common Germans outside the cities. The Nazis were calling for a return from the cities to the countryside. This agrarian sentiment allowed opposition to both the middle class and the aristocracy, and presented the farmer as a superior figure beside the moral swamp of the city. Brooks falsely identifies the Trump Campaign and its supporters with the Nazis and that both advocate eugenics as a solution to America’s problems. Brooks fails to realize that even with all its problems, America today is dramatically different than a defeated, bankrupt Germany in the 1930s. In 1932, over 30 percent of the German workforce was unemployed and civilization itself was unraveling in the capital Berlin with paramilitary gangs battling in the streets. Such is not the state of America today, even when one considers the violent protesters against Trump as neo-Nazis. Additionally, any elected President is constrained by a Constitution defended by numerous governmental and private institutions—not to mention the millions of gun owners who believe the Constitution and not PC ideology should rule this society. June 10, 2016 PBS News Hour Brook’s quotes: “[O]ne of the interesting things from Trump is how ideologically flexible the country is right now, that they just want different and they are willing to grab from [either the left or the right]. . . . [But] Trump is a flawed messenger. Brook’s message: Trump’s policies reflect the pulse of the country, which wants a change from adherence to ideological left or ideological right policies. Trump, however, is flawed in his character by not being politically correct. 24 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 25 of 30 Brooks’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Brooks is evoking the PC ideological axiom that the personal is political—it is not, it is personal, but Brooks fails to understand that. According to Brooks, if a person is not politically correct, meaning he does not use the linguistics of the PC elite, act as the PC elite acts, pay homage to the PC elite’s “gods” and advocate PC elite policies, then he has no value to American society. Political correctness, however, is about as rational as religious correctness, and we have seen throughout history the harm that has caused. Using political correctness as the litmus test for engaging in political activity in America, as Brooks and the liberal mainstream news media do, is similar to ISIS demanding that a person believe as they do; otherwise, it’s off with his head. Brooks has made clear that for him and the PC elite, Trump is an infidel deserving of being figuratively beheaded. New York Times: The Unity Illusion Brooks’s quotes: “Trump, by his very essence, undermines cooperation, reciprocity, solidarity, stability or any other component of unity. . . . Trump’s personality is pathological. It is driven by deep inner compulsions that defy friendly advice, political interest and common sense. . . . Psychologists are not supposed to diagnose candidates from afar, but there is a well-developed literature on narcissism that tracks with what we have seen of Trump. By one theory, narcissism flows from a developmental disorder called alexithymia, the inability to identify and describe emotions in the self. Sufferers have no inner voice to understand their own feelings and reflect honestly on their own actions. Unable to know themselves, or truly love themselves, they hunger for a never-ending supply of admiration from outside. They act at all times like they are performing before a crowd and cannot rest unless they are in the spotlight. To make decisions, these narcissists create a rigid set of external standards, often based around admiration and contempt. Their valuing criteria are based on simple division — winners and losers, victory or humiliation. They are preoccupied with luxury, appearance or anything that signals wealth, beauty, power and success. They take Christian, Jewish and Muslim values — based on humility, charity and love — and they invert them. Incapable of understanding themselves, they are also incapable of having empathy for others. They simply don’t know what it feels like to put themselves in another’s shoes. Other people are simply to be put to use as suppliers of admiration or as victims to be crushed as part of some dominance display.” Brooks’s Message: Trump is mentally disturbed, incapable of compassion, and will do anything—no matter how harmful—to dominate others and win. Brooks’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: That maybe true of Trump, Clinton, or anyone who runs for the Presidency, but Brooks is not in a position to know. He lacks the necessary personal facts that a psychologist would use after lengthy therapy to reach such a conclusion. Additionally, even if Brooks had sufficient personal facts, he lacks the education and training to draw any conclusions as to Trump’s mental state. April 3, 2016 Meet the Press 25 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 26 of 30 Brooks’s quotes: “He’s Donald Trump. It’s all aggression, it’s all ignorance, it’s all the time. . . . I think it’s likely Trump [will be the Republican nominee]. I think he’s the walking dead and he’ll get the nomination and go down to a crushing defeat and will be known for a hundred years from now [when] people will say who’s the biggest loser in American politics and it won’t be McGovern, it won’t be Dukakis, it will be the word Trump. I hope when he is down there in Hades he’s aware of all that.” Brooks’s message: Trump lacks civility, is ignorant and is incapable of higher brain functions. Trump is evil and will end up in hell. Brooks’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: These quotes from Brooks make clear his malice toward Trump. Brooks fails to cite the facts necessary to support his negative assertions. March 18, 2016 New York Times: No, Not Trump, Not Ever Brooks’s quotes: “He is a childish man running for a job that requires maturity. He is an insecure boasting little boy whose desires were somehow arrested at age 12. He surrounds himself with sycophants.” Brooks also compares Trump to George Wallace. Additionally, Brooks says, “Psalm 73 describes them [Trump]: ‘Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. … They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.’ . . . . About 60 percent of Americans disapprove of him . . . . In his savage regime, public life is just a dog-eat-dog war of all against all.” Brooks’s message: Trump is not an adult but a child from the Village of the Dammed and a bigot who will keep people of color out of positions for which they are qualified. If elected he will rule without compassion and use violence to oppress this nation. Most Americans disapprove of him. Brooks’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Brooks psychologically analyses Trump, but Brooks has no training in that field and lacks the necessary personal interaction with Trump to make a diagnosis. Brooks infers Trump believes in segregation today, segregating tomorrow and segregation forever, but provides no facts to support the allegation. Brooks does not even review whether any of Trump’s employees ever filed discrimination complaints against him or his companies. Brooks apparently considers himself an apostle speaking to the sheep from on high of the PC establishment elite warning in Old Testament fashion of floods, locust and the four horsemen of the apocalypse if Trump is elected. Brooks may write for the newspaper of record, but that does not mean he is a prophet whose fire and brimstone of a coming Armageddon under Trump will occur as he asserts. Perhaps Brooks is engaging in the same fear-mongering of which he accuses Trump. Brooks is accurate in the percentage of Americans who disapprove of Trump, but he leaves out the other side of the story that nearly as many disapprove of Clinton. 26 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 27 of 30 Washington Post Jenna Johnson July 29, 2016 In Iowa, Trump warns of refugees and praises waterboarding. In Philly, the father of a fallen Muslim soldier responds. Johnson’s presentation: “[Trump] equated all Syrian refugees with Islamic State terrorists” before a crowd who were mostly bigoted against all Muslims. Johnson communicated her assertion of bigotry with code words such as “in a small town,” “mostly white audience,” and a photograph of young white males yelling. In contrast, she described an immigrant Muslim couple at the DNC convention with the husband, Khizr Khan, “as his right hand carefully placed over his heart. His wife stood silently to his right, her hands folded on a corner of the lectern and her eyes communicating the same deep emotion that soon resonated in [her husband’s] voice [when Khan criticized Trump’s immigration policies].” Johnson’s message: The Trump Candidacy believes all Syrian refugees are terrorists and advocates bigotry against all Syrian refugees, which is supported by bigoted white males. The bigotry not only applies to Syrians but all Muslim immigrants, including the Pakistani couple that appeared on stage at the DNC Convention and their son who died in the Iraq War. The Trump Candidacy and its white supporters are reminiscent of 1930s Germany. Johnson’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Trump does not consider all Syrian refugees as terrorists, but some probably are as the Washington Post reported, June 2, 2016, that Germany recently arrested three Syrian refugee terrorists. The husband of the DNC couple, Khizr Khan, according to his website, is an immigration lawyer who specializes in a highly controversial program accused of letting Middle Eastern immigrants buy their way into the U.S. Naturally, he’d be critical of Trump’s immigration policies that propose a temporary ban on Muslims from states afflicted with radical Islamic terrorism. As for the false image that Johnson paints of Khan as an upstanding man with his right hand “carefully placed over his heart,” Khan is in reality a serial fraudster. According to the New York State Court System, Khan’s law office principal address is at 415 Madison Avenue—a prestigious location for a New York law firm, which is how members of the public would view such an address. Khan’s alleged law office, however, was in a “business hotel” called Regus, which is located on the 14th and 15th floors of 415 Madison Avenue. Regus rents furnished offices and supplies conference rooms and support staff on a short term and long term basis. According to Regus, Khan has not been at that location for at least seven years. If Khan advertises his law office at that address, and he no longer has an address there, or it is a mere mail drop, it would be considered deceptive and misleading to anyone looking for a lawyer in violation of the N.Y. Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1(a)(1) & 7.1(h). Just after his DNC Convention speech, Khan deleted his website to not only hide the type of immigration law he practices, but most likely to also hide that he advertised the Madison Avenue address where he has not been for at least seven years. Additionally, Khizr Khan was a member of the New York City Bar Association until 2011 when his membership was revoked for non-payment of dues. Further, the “Who Is” for Khan’s Americanmuslim.org website, gives 27 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 28 of 30 Khan’s address as 500 David Road, Charlottesville, Virginia but his address when a member of the N.Y.C. Bar was 355 I. Street, Washington, D.C. Khan’s activities are too nefarious to consider him an upstanding American. July 21, 2106 Donald Trump’s vision of doom and despair in America. Johnson’s quotes: “The Republican presidential convention this week has highlighted Donald Trump’s view of America—and it sounds like a terrible, terrible place. . . . [In contrast] [l]ast month, the unemployment rate stood at 4.9 percent—lower than the seven-decade average of 5.8 percent and less than half of the 10 percent jobless rate that marked the peak of the Great Recession in October 2009. Although wages have largely remained stagnant, the Labor Department and wage analysts have noted a recent uptick in employee pay that, although small, represents the biggest such increase in years. Meanwhile, consumer confidence has rebounded to above-average levels after plummeting to all-time lows in 2008 and early 2009, according to the Conference Board and the Michigan Survey of Consumers. . . . The Islamic State has been severely weakened and has lost more than half of the land it once controlled in Iraq and Syria; many intelligence experts say the recent attacks inspired by the group in California, Orlando and southern France are a sign of desperation rather than strength. Democrat Hillary Clinton has presented a much more positive view of the country, saying that America is already great. . . . [RNC] convention speakers have stoked [people’s] fears.” Johnson’s message: The Trump candidacy is using fear-mongering as a tactic that is not supported by the facts. Johnson’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: The real unemployment rate is 9.8%, which includes people who have given up looking for work and those who are stuck in a part-time job for 20 or 25 hours a week. Since 1975, worker productivity has risen over two-fold while wages have largely remained stagnant. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment for the United States came in at 90 in July 2016, slightly up from a preliminary reading of 89.5 but well below 93.5 in June. It is the lowest reading since April as both current conditions and future expectations worsened as final figures showed. After some 12,000 airstrikes over the past 21 months in Iraq and Syria, costing $7 billion, Operation Inherent Resolve has made only varied progress in Iraq and Syria. ISIS has lost 40 percent of its territory in Iraq, and only 11 percent of its turf in Syria. A senior intelligence administration official said ISIS is expected to continue going after so-called soft targets such as airports and shopping areas—killing innocent civilians. The intelligence official also said, “It’s not a sign of weakness or desperation. They are adapting in a different way.” July 5, 2016 Donald Trump praises Saddam Hussein for killing terrorists “so good.” Johnson’s quotes: “Donald Trump praised Saddam Hussein at a campaign rally on Tuesday, embracing the dictator who oppressed Iraq for more than 30 years, aggressively suppressed 28 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 29 of 30 dissent in his country and was widely considered one of the leading enemies of the United States. . . . This is not the first time Trump has praised Hussein or other dictators . . . . In October, Trump said that the world would be ‘100 per cent’ better if dictators like Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi were still in power. . . .” Johnson’s message: “Birds of a feather flock together.” Human rights and free expression are not important to Trump. If elected he will act in a dictatorial fashion, which demonstrates how dangerous he would be as commander-in-chief and how unworthy he is of the office he seeks. Trump’s view of history is skewed. Johnson’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Praise means the act of expressing approval or admiration. Trump did not approve of or express admiration for Saddam Hussein, he actually said he was a horrible guy, but was successful at killing terrorists. Iraq under Saddam was a U.S. ally for years. The U.S. supported Saddam’s Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, which included several billion dollars’ worth of economic aid, the sale of dual-use technology, non-U.S. origin weaponry, military intelligence, Special Operations training and direct involvement in warfare against Iran. Support from the U.S. for Iraq was not a secret and was frequently discussed in open session of the Senate and House of Representatives. On June 9, 1992, Ted Koppel, reported that the Reagan/Bush administrations permitted—and frequently encouraged— the flow of money, agricultural credits, dual-use technology, chemicals and weapons to Iraq. However, due in part to a dumb statement to Saddam Hussein by the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, in which she failed to warn Hussein not to invade Kuwait, Iraq became a U.S. enemy after years of friendship with its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, there had been no suicide attacks in the country’s entire history. Since 2003, there have been nearly 1,900. Prior to the start of the Iraq war, there were just over 1.5 million Christians living in that country. Today, fewer than half a million Christians remain and many are being exterminated by groups like ISIS, which controls much of Iraq today. After the fall of Moammar Gaddafi, the country has been subjected to an ongoing proliferation of weapons, Islamic insurgencies, sectarian violence and lawlessness, with spillovers affecting neighboring countries. It is now a failed state. Most likely, the Middle East would be better off today without the over throws of Hussein and Gaddafi. June 25, 2016 Donald Trump’s Scottish golf swing: A chaotic two-day trip across the green. Johnson’s quotes: “Donald Trump capped off his two-day overseas tour in a golf cart Saturday afternoon, zooming around the golf course he built on top of sand dunes. . . . Trump seemed to dramatically shift on two of his major policy proposals, although it was unclear if he meant to do so . . . Trump then spoke to the world, standing in a sea of Nazi golf balls [thrown by a British protester.] [Trump] let everyone know that the golf course’s new sprinkler system is of ‘the highest level.’ He may have been jetlagged or unnerved by the swastika-covered golf balls at his feet, but Trump appeared to lack his usual energy that morning. He leaned heavily on the lectern, rarely seeming excited about the words coming out of his mouth. . . . For years, Trump and his associates have tried unsuccessfully to buy these properties [three neighbors] or force the residents out [who were flying Mexican flags]. . . . He again brushed away questions about 29 Case 1:16-cv-06624 Document 1-1 Filed 08/23/16 Page 30 of 30 foreign-policy advisers, saying that ‘most of them are no good’. He then abruptly changed the topic back to golf. ‘Let’s go to the 14th,’ he said.” Johnson’s message: Trump is a cartoon type character who cannot keep his political positions straight, others justifiably see him as having Nazis-like attributes, is concerned more with triviality than important issues, is easily unnerved, is too old and energy drained for the Presidency, will engage in force to get his way, and is disjointed in his thinking. Johnson’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: A garb bag piece of personal attacks from someone who did not witness firsthand what she implies she did. There’s nothing new in politicians changing or clarifying their positions, such as Hillary Clinton on NAFTA, minimum wage, and free college tuition. The Scotland trip was done for business—not political reasons. Trump is able to give hour long speeches off the cuff. When a millennial tried to attack him, Trump is seen moving forward to confront him, so golf balls, unless hit by a club swung by someone such as Johnson, are irrelevant. Additionally, Trump did not previously engage in force against his neighbors who were flying the Mexican flag. Many foreign policy advisers supported the 2003 Iraq War, the overthrow of Gaddafi and doing nothing in Syria—they were wrong. June 13, 2016 Donald Trump seems to connect President Obama to Orlando shooting. Johnson’s quote: “Donald Trump seemed to repeatedly accuse President Obama . . . [of] being complicit in the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando over the weekend, the worst the country has ever seen.” Johnson’s message: Trump asserted that the President of the United States was an accomplice with, somehow participated in or was an accessory before the fact in the mass murder. Trump is a believer in absurd conspiracy theories, which makes him a danger to the country if elected President. Johnson’s falsity, prevarication or dissemblance: Complicity means involvement in a crime as a principal or as an accessory before the crime occurs. Trump did not assert “complicity” but that Obama did not understand the threat of radical Islamists. 30