Really not what it says at all. And I am shocked that such an esteemed publication as World Net Daily--really, the paper of record--would write a sensationalist article.
You are correct, I am familiar with this case. The filing with the Ohio Elections Commission was a smokescreen to delay an opposing ad. There was never an actual chance of jail time.
Even so, Ohio’s laws on this aren’t very good and this really should have been thrown out at filing as frivolous.
But, there is zero chance of jail time in a Federal civil suit. Even if Driehaus were to somehow prevail at trial, he will lose on appeal it is close to impossible for a public figure, particularly an office holder, to win a defamation or libel suit.
They would have had to accuse him of raping children for Driehaus to even have a chance at winning.
This is not to say the judge is right, he bent over backwards to give Dreihaus a trial where none is deserved. There is no tort in saying nasty things about a candidate.
Of course, this is par for the course for World Net Daily. They often use lurid “end of the world” headlines for mundane stuff. They are about as sloppy as the New York Times gets when they go promoting a pet cause.
Frankly I’m still of the opinion that Joseph Farah is a liberal plant to make us look bad.