Andy Martin sends libel notice to Daily Herald

ANDY MARTIN
The Right Republican for
U. S. Senator from Illinois/2008
Suite 4406, 30 E. Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
Toll-free tel. (866) 706-2639
Toll-free fax (866) 707-2639
Web site: www.AndyforUSSenator.com
E-mail: AndyforUSSenator@aol.com

August 9, 2007

Mr. Eric Krol
Daily Herald
P. O. Box 280
Arlington heights, IL 60006-0280
Via fax (847) 427-1301

REQUEST FOR RETRACTION

LEGAL NOTICE PURSUANT TO ILLINOIS LAW

Dear Eric:

On August 2, 2007 you wrote that I was “known for a history of anti-Semitic remarks.” That statement is simply not true, and it is false and defamatory. I am writing to request a retraction. A retraction will avoid any need to consider legal remedies which may be available to me.

First, I am aware that media are given great latitude in covering campaigns, Monitor Patriot v. Roy, 401 U. S. 265 (1971). But that latitude is not unlimited. Id. And, false accusations are actionable when they stem from the malice of the writer, see e.g. McDonald v. Smith, 472 U. S. 479 (1985); Myers v. Levy, 808 N.E.2d 1139, 1151-1152 (Ill. 2d Dist. 2004).

I have never met you in person and outside of the political context I know nothing about you. You appear to suffer from the same sort of professional disability manifested by Rick Pearson of the Chicago Tribune, who is obsessed with smearing me and publishing false and misleading and defamatory claims. I have no idea why Pearson is obsessed with me, and I have no idea why you manifest the same behavior. The Tribune has been paying lawyers to harass me for two years; your firm may have to engage the same counsel if we are unable to resolve our differences without litigation.

I think it is apodictic that a newspaper reporter should not use his role in the institution to propagandize on behalf of his own personal or religious bias or allow such feelings to contaminate his coverage.

In my broadcasting and writing I have been critical of the policies of the State of Israel. I have been a strong supporter of United Nations resolutions endorsing the creation of a Palestinian state. I believe our Middle East policies are self-destructive to the foreign policy interests of the United States. But my own Andy Martin Peace Plan, first promulgated in 2000, endorsed using U. S. armed forces to police the Green Line, so I am hardly unconcerned about the safety of either Israelis or Palestinians.

President George H. W. Bush was called an anti-Semite for following international law, and recently I have seen where the extreme right in Israel is now accusing George W. Bush of being hostile to Israel. Frankly, the American people are getting fed up and tired of people such as yourself who characterize as “anti-Semites” anyone who supports a fair and balanced Middle East policy. Enough already.

During the 1980’s I was an involuntary party to some particularly distasteful litigation in Connecticut. Recent Freedom of Information (“FOIA”) disclosures, belatedly released by the federal government, have confirmed that I was the victim of thoroughly corrupt proceedings designed to steal my property.[1] As a defense to the theft of my property I filed civil rights claims seeking to block the thieves.[2] It was painful for me to have to advance legal claims that were as unfortunate as they were unavoidable. But it is an axiom of law that parties and their lawyers often have to make arguments that go against their own feelings. Nevertheless, the U. S. Supreme Court in Shaare Tefila v. Cobb, 481 U. S. 615 (1987) shortly thereafter endorsed the very civil rights theory I had advanced in Connecticut.

I have devoted a substantial part of my adult life to fighting for civil rights, and against bigotry; and I will continue to do so in the U. S. Senate.

If you and your paper’s attorneys want to resolve this matter without litigation I encourage you to act responsibly and do so with an apology and retraction. Failing same, I will avail myself of any remedies which the law provides to protect my good name and reputation.

Please feel free to have your attorneys contact me if they wish to discuss this matter.



Sincerely yours,





ANDY MARTIN


AM:sp
[1] One of the attorneys appearing before the crooked judge seeking to steal my property was simultaneously representing the judge in his pending divorce proceedings. There is no way a judge should have allowed his own personal attorney in a pending case to appear before him. The judge was enraged when I exposed his abuse of authority and lack of respect for due process. But then as those of us who live in Chicago know, judges who are exposed as crooks often strike back to discredit their accusers.

[2] In 2004 I publicly waived any privacy rights I had to any files of the federal government, and I am prepared to waive those rights again upon written request to do so. I have nothing to hide, and new FOIA requests might even dislodge more information. If it is facts you want to research and report, instead of bile and bias, I am as open a candidate as any you will ever encounter. Given the Tribune’s failing finances, they should be trying to avoid lawsuits as well, but their overwhelming hubris is doing them in.