Oddball said:
Oh, wait....Mann has already threatened to sue NRO and Mark Steyn...How's that one coming along?
Yesterday, the judge denied their motion to dismiss.
Hockey stick graph climate researcher's defamation suit to go forward | Ars Technica
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This finding does not mean that the Court concluded there was actual malice. Instead, it views that as a job for the discovery process, in which each side can request relevant documents. The court is simply concluding that there are grounds for a defamation suit, so the case can go forward.
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Unfortunately for NRO, Rich Lowry was dumb enough to actually brag online about how they intended to abuse the discovery process in order to get some red meat for their readers.
Get Lost | National Review Online
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If Mann sues us, the materials we will need to mount a full defense will be extremely wide-ranging. So if he files a complaint, we will be doing more than fighting a nuisance lawsuit; we will be embarking on a journalistic project of great interest to us and our readers.
And this is where you come in. If Mann goes through with it, we’re probably going to call on you to help fund our legal fight and our investigation of Mann through discovery. If it gets that far, we may eventually even want to hire a dedicated reporter to comb through the materials and regularly post stories on Mann.
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What that means is that Mann's lawyer (Cozen O'Conner, one of the best there is) will bring up NRO's statement of bad intent with the judge, and NRO will end up having to specifically get permission for each bit of discovery they want, and pay a judge-appointed third party to do it. There's a reason why you keep your mouth shut when involved in a lawsuit.
Oh, discovery works both ways. NRO is in a lot more trouble over possible embarrassing things being revealed than Mann is. After all, Mann is very happy to let discovery play out.