SurvivalBlog Hit with a Defamation Civil Suit

SurvivalBlog ^ | October 17, 2016 | James Rawles

[ChocChipCookie]

We have always been very careful to avoid making any libelous statements in SurvivalBlog. But after a lifetime of being free of any ligation I now have apparently been named as a co-defendant in an upcoming defamation trial in the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio. (I have not yet been served with court papers, but I’ve been warned that indeed I soon will be.) All of this stems from just a two-line mention (with a link) about a reportedly disbarred attorney in Tennessee–variously surnamed Akart, Akard, and Okard–who reportedly had at least two convictions in the past for swindling. I merely posted a link to Ross Elder’s article about the man, as objective reporting, with no commentary of my own, and I’ve made no other mention of him in my blog until today. But now I–along with more than a half dozen co-defendants–have been slapped with a potentially multi-million dollar lawsuit for “assault, libel and slander.” Even though this appears to be a frivolous lawsuit, I still have to hire an attorney to defend myself and SurvivalBlog.

It is a long-standing tenet of civil law that the truth is the basic defense in any libel lawsuit, and I firmly believe that the truth is on our side in this case.

The upcoming legal defense will probably cost thousands of dollars in attorney fees. I would appreciate the prayers of SurvivalBlog readers that justice will prevail. If any readers would like to contribute to our legal defense, then please send a check to:

James Wesley, Rawles P.O. Box 303 Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845

Alternatively, PayPal donations can be sent to: james@rawles.to. (Yes, it is indeed a “.to” domain, not a “.com” address.) My pledge to you is that if Akart’s lawsuit is withdrawn or if it is dismissed by the courts before I incur legal expenses, then I will return any donations over $20. Many thanks for your prayers! – JWR

[ChocChipCookie]

Be sure to read the material at the links in the original article. You'll see some interesting names there. It's not just Rawles being sued. And, read the original article that started the whole thing:

https://ross-elder.com/2016/03/11/bobby-akart-from-con-to-icon/

[MarchonDC09122009]

Very sorry to see MB named. He served / serves his country well, and does not need to be hassled.
CAIR does this kind of re-direction legal jihad crap.

RE: “Be sure to read the material at the links in the original article. You’ll see some interesting names there. It’s not just Rawles being sued. And, read the original article that started the whole thing:

https://ross-elder.com/2016/03/11/bobby-akart-from-con-to-icon/";

[Billthedrill]

A BTT. Attorneys whose practice is this sort of “lawfare” need to be treated as the enemy agents they are.

[ChocChipCookie]

Well, he is also a well-known author in the prepper niche, so he’s attacking people who are actually on his side. Very weird story.

[PAR35]

I suppose the question is whether the plaintiff Akart is the same person as the described Akard. The story at the link doesn’t do a good job of establishing the identity. The defense is going to need better evidence than that.

[ChocChipCookie]

Well, the photos do look like him. I’ll have to go back and see what evidence is in the original article.

[ResisTyr]

Bookmarked

[PAR35]

The ‘before’ picture isn’t very good, but I agree that the two pictures do show facial similarities (wide face, double chin, pinned back ears). I hadn’t compared them until you posted that comment.