New York Times loses an appeal in Project Veritas case
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[November 20, 2021]
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York appeals
court judge has rejected the New York Times' request to lift an order
temporarily blocking it from publishing or seeking various documents
related to the conservative activist group Project Veritas.
Friday's order from Justice Leonard Austin of the state Appellate
Division in Brooklyn means the Times cannot use the documents, which
Project Veritas said are protected by attorney-client privilege, until a
Nov. 23 hearing on whether to extend the prohibition.
The Times had been appealing a Thursday order by a trial judge, Justice
Charles Wood of the Westchester County Supreme Court, that the newspaper
called an unconstitutional prior restraint, a view shared by some First
Amendment advocates.
"Today's decision to allow the injunction is deeply disappointing,"
Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said in an email. "We look forward
to explaining our position in court."
Project Veritas did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Wood's order was part of Project Veritas' defamation lawsuit against the
Times over a September 2020 article describing a video the group
released alleging voter fraud in Minnesota.
It followed a Nov. 11 Times article discussing Project Veritas'
journalism practices, and a U.S. Department of Justice probe into the
group's possible role in the reported theft of a diary from President
Joe Biden's daughter Ashley.
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The New York Times building is seen in Manhattan, New York, U.S.,
August 3, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
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That article discussed memos by Benjamin Barr, a
lawyer for Project Veritas. The group has said those memos were
privileged, and the Times wrote about them to harm and embarrass a
litigation adversary.
Wood's order blocks the Times from reporting on or trying to obtain
privileged Project Veritas materials until the Nov. 23 hearing.
The judge will also consider whether the newspaper must remove
references to Barr's memos from the Nov. 11 article.
The Times has said Wood's order ran afoul of the U.S. Supreme
Court's 1971 decision rejecting the Nixon administration's bid to
halt publication of the Pentagon Papers, which described U.S.
military involvement in Vietnam.
The case is Project Veritas v New York Times Co et al, New York
State Supreme Court, Westchester County, No. 63921/2020.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Marguerita Choy and
Rosalba O'Brien)
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