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American Sniper- The MovieI've read the book and passed it on to others

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura filed suit Monday against HarperCollins, the New York publisher of the book that a federal jury in St. Paul said had defamed him. In July Ventura won $1.8 million from the estate of Chris Kyle, the late Navy SEAL who wrote the bestselling memoir “American Sniper,” which included a subchapter about an alleged California bar fight between him and a man he called “Scruff Face” and later identified as Ventura. Ventura, who is also a former member of a SEAL unit, successfully argued that the bar fight and disparaging remarks he made against Navy SEALs attributed...

Attorneys for Chris Kyle's estate are asking a judge to throw out a defamation verdict and $1.8 million award in the late Navy SEAL-turned-author's legal battle against Jesse Ventura — or send the matter back for a new trial. In court filings Thursday, they argued that the former Minnesota governor didn't meet the high bar of proof for defamation of a public figure. The judge failed to steer the jury away from an erroneous decision, they said, and the award's dollar amount was pulled from thin air. The Kyle estate is seeking to reverse a verdict issued in July that...

Tuesday on “The Alan Colmes Show,” former Gov. Jesse Ventura talked to Alan about a variety of topics including what he think about race relations in Ferguson, MO, the militarization of police forces, and some of the tactics used to deal with the protestors in Ferguson. He also spoke at length about the criticisms he received from former Gov. Sarah Palin after his defamation lawsuit involving the family of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, and how he felt he was perceived as a “villain” as a result: VENTURA: I see the bottom line of this is racism…We still have a racism...

Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura launched Tuesday a public relations campaign to explain why he filed the high-profile defamation suit he won last week. In a wide-ranging interview on WCCO Radio, and in an online video on Ora.tv, Ventura repeatedly said the lawsuit was not about the money; it was about clearing his name. “For me, it was always about the lie,” said Ventura, the former Navy SEAL and professional wrestler, who said he would have settled for an apology if the publishers of “American Sniper” admitted they fabricated a story about him. “All they did was offer money,” he...

Jesse “The Body”? Who’s that? I’m a Minnesota girl and I only know Jesse the Baby. In September of 2012, I listened to my home state’s former governor speak at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. I felt embarrassed for my state. Ventura showed up in jeans, a tie-dyed T-shirt and long, straggly gray hair that looked like it hadn’t been combed or washed in days. No, he wasn’t going for “California casual” with jeans in a blazer. On top of his multi-colored t-shirt he donned, not a classy sport coat, but a 90’s-style color-block windbreaker. He was trying and...

We have been reminded of the one thing we knew with absolute certainty, that Jesse Ventura is a winner. He has been a professional wrestler, a mayor, a radio talk show host, the governor of the state, a television star, a best-selling author and even, for a brief spell, a Harvard professor, although a photo taken at his academic desk showed one Post-it note stuck to a blank computer screen. And now, Jesse Ventura has won again, probably as big a shock as his election win to the state's highest office in November 1998. Jesse Ventura won his defamation case...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin hammered Jesse Ventura for winning a $2 million defamation lawsuit this week against Chris Kyle's widow. After Kyle's death, Ventura continued with the lawsuit that stemmed from a passage from Kyle's book in which Kyle claimed he knocked out an unnamed Navy SEAL for trashing the troops. During his book tour, Kyle said that was Ventura. But after Kyle was tragically killed in 2013, many felt that Ventura, who has done a lot to damage his own reputation over the years, should have dropped the lawsuit. "Hey tough guy, Jesse Ventura, your feelings were hurt...

There were two things Jesse Ventura was never supposed to win: the 1998 Minnesota Governor’s race, and his just-ended trial seeking a big payday from a hero’s widow. But he was indeed a one-term Governor of an actual state, and now he has prevailed in another improbable arena— a courtroom where he asserted that one of America’s most admired war heroes lied about him on purpose. The $1.8 million dollar judgment from a ten-person jury voting 8-2 is a direct raid on the family budget of Chris Kyle’s widow Taya and their two children. The first half-million will be covered...

Jesse Ventura, Minnesota’s former governor, won his lawsuit against the late Navy SEAL and American Sniper author Chris Kyle on Tuesday. He claimed he was defamed in that book and, while a jury agreed, the vainglorious former wrestler-turned-politician-turned-conspiracy-buff has not exactly comported himself in a fashion that elicits much sympathy. After having been awarded nearly $2 million to be paid by the late serviceman’s widow, one might assume that Ventura would simply slip away and enjoy his victory. It seems, however, Ventura’s narcissism prevented him from taking the tasteful approach here. In an appearance on CBS News’ This Morning on...

The jury in the defamation lawsuit brought by former Gov. Jesse Ventura informed the judge Monday that they can’t reach a verdict, but the judge instructed them to keep trying. “We have not reached a unanimous decision,” the jury wrote in a note to U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle, who read it aloud at a noon hearing with the jury and attorneys in the courtroom. “We feel we will not come to a unanimous decision,” the note said. But Kyle told the 10 jurors to “give it one more shot” and asked them to resume deliberations, noting that his instructions...

Defense lawyers in the Jesse Ventura defamation case rolled out a parade of witnesses Wednesday claiming Ventura got punched out in a California bar. That’s the claim in the best-selling war memoir “American Sniper” by the deceased author Chris Kyle. It’s about to be made into a movie. But the bar fight is a claim Ventura says never happened. For the last two days, Navy SEALs have claimed in court that they saw one part or another of the bar fight. Ventura, described in the book as “scruff face,” is accused of shooting off his mouth about the war and...

Tuesday’s witnesses at Jesse Ventura’s defamation trial stitched together a scene a California bar that ended with the former governor lying on his back. The latest witness in the case being heard in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, former SEAL Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Paul, said he saw a commotion, then saw Ventura get up from the patio floor and yell that he was going to kill Chris Kyle. Afterward, Paul said, “Chris told me, ‘Jesse was running his mouth and I punched him.’ ”

Laura deShazo of Salt Lake City testified Monday she was at the pub in Coronado California, the night when slain "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle said he punched a man he called "Scruff Face." Kyle later identified the man as Ventura. DeShazo said she was in the bar to attend the wake for a friend of Kyle's. While there, she, her sister and her brother's girlfriend poses for a picture with Ventura.

Navy SEAL Chris Kyle died one year ago today. To honor his memory, Texas Gov. Rick Perry lowered state flags to half-staff. Additionally, he tweeted the following picture of Kyle’s grave. Sen. Ted Cruz also tweeted a tribute. Sarah Palin tweeted the following and posted a further message on her Facebook page.

After a public backlash, former presidential candidate Ron Paul used his Facebook page to clarify controversial comments he made Monday about the Navy SEAL who was killed at a Texas gun range over the weekend. Paul wrote: “Chris Kyle’s death seems to confirm that ‘he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.’ Paul backtracked some and offered a clarification on his Facebook page. He wrote: "As a veteran, I certainly recognize that this weekend's violence and killing of Chris Kyle were a tragic and sad event. My condolences and prayers go out to Mr. Kyle’s family. Unconstitutional and...

Ronald Ernest Paul, the nation's last best hope for internet gambling and the gold standard, responded to the murder of a Navy SEAL by saying, "He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword." But the question is whose sword is it? To the anti-war movement, all conflicts between the free world and the world of slaves are reduced to a pithy formula of moral equivalence. America lifted the sword and has gone on swinging it. It never puts the sword down and therefore it dies by it. Chris Kyle becomes a metaphor for the great beast of war,...

It has been said that “he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.” And in the case of Eliot Spitzer this couldn’t be more true. In his case it’s the political sword, as his enemies rejoice in his downfall. Most people, it seems, believe he got exactly what he deserved. The illegal tools of the state brought Spitzer down, but think of all the harm done by Spitzer in using the same tools against so many other innocent people. He practiced what could be termed “economic McCarthyism,” using illegitimate government power to build his political career on...

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), he of the quixotic GOP presidential campaign and unique policy positions, is never one to be shy about his opinions. Take the case of fallen New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), whose political career fell apart this week after his liaisons with high-priced call girls became public. Spitzer resigned his office effective Monday. Most politicians from both sides of the aisle publicly (at least) offered condolences for Spitzer and his poor family, including his three daughters, but didn't — of course — defend Spitzer's atrocious behavior. But for Paul, Spitzer's downfall at the hands of a...

A Texas widow wants Jesse Ventura's defamation and libel case involving her late husband moved from Minnesota to the Lone Star State. Attorneys for Taya Kyle -- whose husband, Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, was shot and killed in February -- argue in a motion filed Monday that forcing the widowed mother of two to spend weeks in Minnesota to defend her husband's veracity in court is too much of a burden. "Bringing my children with me to Minnesota for trial isn't a good option," Taya Kyle wrote in a declaration accompanying her request. "I don't know who would take...