EXCLUSIVE: Former Trump campaign aide Carter Page is suing Yahoo parent company Oath Inc. over “false and defamatory statements,” claiming the outlet “portrayed him as a traitor to America” who illegally conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election.
The suit – obtained by Fox News -- was filed Monday in Delaware Superior Court and accuses Oath’s Yahoo News and HuffPost of publishing stories about Page “with actual knowledge of falsity or with a reckless disregard of truth or falsity” with a motive of generating clicks online and aligning with the political bias and aims of senior management.
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“Page is an innocent individual whose entire way of life was shattered as a direct result of being defamed and falsely branded as a traitor to his country by the Defendant’s media brands,” the lawsuit claims. “He was allegedly secretly plotting with Russian leaders to sabotage the 2016 Presidential Election and give ‘aid and comfort’ to Russian President Putin’s efforts to ‘weaken’ America.”
The suit notes that criminal acts of treason against the United States are punishable by the death penalty. Claiming the stories falsely painted Page as a possible traitor, the suit alleges the reports “catastrophically harmed” an innocent person.
“Overnight he was defamed and thrown onto the world stage as a traitor,” the suit said.
Page is seeking punitive damages, an award requiring the defendant to disgorge any benefits obtained from publishing the defamatory statements, attorneys’ fees and costs associated the suit, prejudgment and post-judgment interest, “other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper” and a trial by jury.
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“Since the defamatory statements were published within weeks of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, and contained lurid and sensational alleged facts describing international political intrigue involving the presidential candidates, the Defendant’s economic expectation that the false and defamatory statements would increase ‘clicks’ and globally drive internet traffic to its various websites -- and thereby result in a financial benefit -- is undeniable,” the suit said.
The suit claims that then-Oath CEO Tim Armstrong had ties to Hillary Clinton and ran his media organization to help her defeat President Trump, resulting in an “epic failure of journalistic integrity.”
Page was a central figure in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. Mueller did not find any wrongdoing by Page and was unable to substantiate the anti-Trump dossier’s claims about him.
Last year, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz issued a long-awaited report finding that the FBI made repeated errors and misrepresentations before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) as the FBI sought to monitor Page in 2016 and 2017.
Horowitz’s report also confirmed that the FISA applications to monitor Page relied heavily on the now-infamous Trump dossier, authored by ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, commissioned by opposition research firm Fusion GPS, and funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign through law firm Perkins Coie.
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The suit singles out a Sept. 2016 story written by Yahoo News Chief investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff that headlined, “U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin,” which the suit said is filled with “false, misrepresented, and unverified statements and information” created on behalf of Fusion GPS and used to inspire the collusion narrative.
“It has now been exposed that the claim of such alleged ‘collusion’ was a complete fraud,” the suit stated, adding that Isikoff’s story was “part of an extensive series of false and defamatory articles” targeting Page by Oath’s HuffPost.
“Despite Yahoo! and HuffPost having actual knowledge that the portions of these articles defaming Dr. Page were false, they printed them anyway,” the suit claimed.
Isikoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oath, and its properties such as Yahoo and HuffPost, have since been rebranded as Verizon Media.
Verizon Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit adds that HuffPost “maliciously published” follow-up stories to Isikoff’s initial piece. “In sum, these articles evince Oath’s malicious abuse of its media position to spread the accusatory statements to as many readers as possible,” the suit said.
HuffPost did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“There was nothing in the 2016 Yahoo Article from which the average reader could ascertain the truth about the Article’s accusations which were based solely on facially defective and politically biased information supplied by Fusion GPS and Steele who were compensated to produce the false and defamatory materials,” the suit added.
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Page has been the recipient of death threats as a result of the reporting, the suit claimed.
“Page can no longer enjoy the freedom of movement that the great majority of American’s take for granted as a fundamental right,” the suit said.
The new suit follows other recent high-profile court cases involving claims of defamatory media coverage: CNN and the Washington Post have each settled defamation lawsuits launched by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann over botched coverage of a viral confrontation with a Native American elder that had portrayed the Kentucky teen as the aggressor. Sandmann's attorney, Lin Wood, is also part of Page’s legal team.
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