Today Thursday March 14, 2019 my attorneys filed on my behalf a lawsuit against Fox News, Fox News Legal Expert Judge Napolitano, CNN, MSNBC, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and others. The lawsuit is a defamation claim. The suit makes clear that the purpose of Fox and other major media outlets defaming me was to impact the outcome of the May 2018 Republican Primary Election in West Virginia.
The lawsuit also makes clear that the purposeful and illegal defamation was carried out as a result of collusion with and encouragement from Republican government officials.
We allege that the defamation was planned by Republican United States Senators, members of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and perhaps others before my Senate Primary. The plan apparently included the development of a “menu list of items to stop Blankenship” from winning the West Virginia Republican Primary. We allege that meetings were initiated by Republican Leaders over concern that I would win the election for the Republican nomination for the West Virginia US Senate Seat. During the lead-up to the May 8, 2018 Primary, the Defendants repeatedly called me a “convicted felon”. Judge Napolitano stated that I was convicted of ‘manslaughter’.
Of note, is that I have never been convicted of a felony, much less of manslaughter. I was found guilty of only a misdemeanor on December 3, 2015. The Obama Department of Justice cheated in every way imaginable to convict me of false felony charges and they failed to do so. Major media outlets throughout the United States, including defendants in this case, reported at the time that I was convicted of only a “misdemeanor”. Some also later reported that I was sent to prison for a “misdemeanor”. Additionally, I made clear in the nationally televised Fox debate that I was sent to prison for a “misdemeanor”. In other words, we know that the defendants knew and even reported that I was convicted of a “misdemeanor” and not a “felony”, at the time of the conviction.
Mitch McConnell and other United States Senators expressed to the national press that they did not want me to win the election. The possibility of my winning became big news even nationally. In reaction to my possibly winning the election a Political Action Committee apparently controlled by Senator Mitch McConnell launched a one million three hundred thousand dollar negative and false ad campaign against me. However, in the words of the media, I continued to “surge” toward the lead in the race. In fact, I took the lead in most polls including polls taken by my opponents.
The Republican Party panicked and asked the media for help. First up to help the Republican Party Leaders defeat me was Judge Napolitano, a New Jersey Judge, who was well acquainted with Patrick Morrisey. New Jersey Attorney Morrisey had presented cases in Judge Napolitano’s courtroom on multiple occasions. On April 25, 2018 Napolitano appeared on the Fox program “Outnumbered”. He said that I was “sent to prison for manslaughter”
My campaign manager immediately informed Napolitano that I had never been convicted of a felony nor had I ever gone to prison for manslaughter. Both Fox and Napolitano failed to retract or correct the statement prior to the election. Napolitano, two weeks after the election admitted he was wrong in saying that I was a “felon” but he never made mention of his reference to “manslaughter”. Others on Fox including Neil Cavuto and Stephanie Hamill also told their viewing audiences that I was a felon in the days leading up to the election. Commentators on CNN and MSNBC, among others, and journalists working for the Washington Post and others, made the same defamatory comments.
The ability of government officials to control America’s national media was evident. We have documented not only dozens of media statements saying “Blankenship is a felon” in the days leading up to the election but also afterward when I was attempting to gain access to the fall ballot as a Constitution Party candidate. It is obvious that calling me a felon at these times had as its purpose preventing me from becoming a United States Senator and depriving West Virginia voters of a fair election. The purpose is made even more clear by the fact that we have yet to find a single time that the national media called me a “felon” prior to and just before the election. The felon statements were all made after United States government officials began to express concern that I would win the race.
The public needs to be aware that major media outlets are often owned by mega size American corporations. As just one example, AT&T which most Americans think of as being in the telephone business owns CNN. If these companies are allowed to own television networks whose reporters purposefully slander candidates for the United States Senate they need to be held responsible for corrupting federal elections. Fox, the Washington Post, and their individual employees are very influential in the public arena and they must be severely punished when they cause American elections to be corrupted. Particularly, when they are encouraged by United States government officials to do so.
The public and the Department of Justice also need to take a close look at other matters related to the 2018 West Virginia Republican Primary race for US Senate. Matters the DOJ should at least consider investigating include among others whether political meetings were illegally held in US government buildings. They should also investigate whether the delay in invalidating my clearly corrupt misdemeanor conviction was related to Republican efforts to “stop Blankenship” from becoming a US Senator.
Perhaps the most ominous thing needing investigation is why my efforts to invalidate my misdemeanor conviction were stalled just before the election. Then, why shortly after the election my efforts to get the conviction invalidated were delayed again and again as the case was moved to Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky. Later it was moved to the Department of Justice office in Ohio. As of now it has been on the desk of a federal Magistrate Judge for three and a half months.
There is much more to all this that I will not mention here. You can bet that the defendants in this case will fight hard to defend their actions and will deny the truth. But this lawsuit raises very serious issues. Collusion among government officials and the national media to corrupt a federal election is as serious as Russian collusion to do the same.
In my opinion, such matters of government dishonesty represent the single biggest risk to our county’s survival.