Larry Klayman, the corruption fighter who founded Judicial Watch and later Freedom Watch, has filed a lawsuit against members of the media, claiming defamation for a report that was headlined, “Bradlee Dean’s attorney, Larry Klayman, Allegedly Sexually Abused His Own Children.”
Klayman, a former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor whose battle against “the seedy underbelly of Washington” is chronicled in his book “Whores: Why and How I Came to Fight the Establishment,” is the only lawyer ever to have obtained a court ruling that a U.S. president committed a crime.
He still is known in Washington as the biggest enemy of the city’s elite, having made a name for himself suing Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and foreign dictators such as Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
His battles against corruption in the Clinton administration became so well-known that a character in the hit TV series “West Wing” was based on him, Harry Klaypool.
Now he’s filed an action against City Pages and Phoenix New Times, both reportedly owned and run by the Denver-based Voice Media Group, which runs leftist publications such as that city’s Westword.
The case filed in U.S. District Court in Ocala, Fla., charges that the companies and their reporters have “widely published domestically and internationally false and misleading statements that Klayman has committed and was convicted of the crime of sexually abusing his own two children.”
In a statement accompanying the lawsuit, Klayman said the charges had been leveled “for strategic purposes” by his former wife, and were dismissed by the Cleveland Department of Children and Families, and the sheriff and district attorney of Cayahoga County.
In addition, Klayman reported he voluntarily took and passed a polygraph test, and the children told investigators they were coached, but refused to implicate their father in any wrongdoing.
Officials with Voice Media Group in Denver could not be reached for a comment. When WND contacted Phoenix New Times, Larry Suskin said, “I guess what we would say is Voice Media Group stands by the accuracy of its published report regarding the Ohio court decision concerning Mr. Klayman and it will vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
Officials at the Phoenix New times did not respond to a message requesting a comment.
But the complaint Klayman filed alleges that the defendants negligently, intentionally and maliciously sought to severely injure Klayman in retaliation for his legal representation of Bradlee Dean, a Christian preacher whose group, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, teaches Judeo-Christian values to school children.
Klayman also represented Dean in a lawsuit against Rachel Maddow of MSNBC over her allegedly defamatory attacks for mentoring children to reject the homosexual lifestyle.
Klayman also has been representing voters in Arizona who are opposing a recall petition targeting Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The statement alleges the reporters “are part of the radical gay, lesbian and transgender ‘rights’ and pro-illegal immigrant agendas of the far left.”
“To falsely use my young children to try to harm my clients and me is the lowest of the low and these sleazy ultra leftist publications and their reporters will pay a heavy legal price for doing so,” Klayman said in a statement.
Klayman’s complaint alleges there are anti-Christian overtones in the publications’ reports on him, and that’s the reason.
He noted his representation of Dean, “a Christian preacher and musician who, through his ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, is invited into schools to teach children Judeo-Christian ethics and morals.”
He said Dean has opposed “the radical homosexual gay, lesbian and transgender lobby” that have worked to teach children “that the gay, lesbian and transgender lifestyle is normal.”
“In order to discredit Dean and YCR, who defendants claim have accused some gays and lesbians of abusing children, defendants, each and every one of them, by and through Avidor, Ruper, and CP, published a statement in the above mentioned article which is libelous and constitutions defamation…,” according to the complaint.
“Defendants negligently … stated, ‘Turns out, gays aren’t the only ones capable of disturbing, criminal sexual behavior – apparently even conservative straight guys tight with Bradlee Dean turn out to be total creeps.'”
But the complaint said Klayman “has never been found by any legal entity or agency to have sexually abused his children…”
“To the contrary plaintiff Klayman was cleared of these false charges … by the Cleveland Department of Children and Families, the Cayahoga County sheriff’s department and the district attorney, all of whom dismissed the ex-spouse’s complaint.”
He said the allegations were “tactical” as part of a custody dispute.
The complaint cites damages to his reputation, emotional distress, and severe anxiety. He alleges he also was “exposed” to “hatred, ridicule, or contempt.”
