07-31-2023, 08:54 PM
(07-31-2023, 08:36 PM)Dill Wrote: Thanks for continuing with this and sending the links. I'm still not seeing a lie confession though. Here's why:
A hypothetical: If I hear someone say that BBG stole Trump votes and replaced them with Biden ballots.
I might believe that and repeat it in public venues, resulting in massive harassment of BBG.
Then later it turns out BBG was in Bolivia during the election and didn't even vote. I.e., didn't do it and couldn't have.
He sues me for defamation. I agree, for purposes of litigation, that my statements were false.
But since I believed they were true at the time, I'm perfectly correct in refusing to say I lied, which requires intent.
(The Constanza defense.) Merely agreeing my statements were false after the fact is definitely not, in itself,
confession of a lie.
Maybe Rudy knew his claims were a lie; maybe he thought them possibly true but not for sure; maybe he was so
foolish as to actually believing the libelous claims. He frequently used the phrase "apparent" fraud.
None of these options would surprise me, if we could know. No question he was irresponsible, especially for a lawyer,
and should be disbarred.
As far as the men in your videos--Yes they are lawyers, but that does not change the above argument that agreeing
that a statement one made in the past is false is not prima facie evidence one lied in making it.
We need to be careful here, as our friends on the right, especially at Fox, make their living by calling every erroneous
statement not made by Trump a lie, regardless of what those making it knew or believed.
OK then, would you agree in order to prove defamation that caused you substantial harm and you're seeking relief you'd need to prove a defendant would have to knowingly claim, put in writing, or publicly make a statement they knew to be false?
Rudy is doing just that here in his concession to the court, so therefore he's admitting that he knowingly lied and there isn't a reason to prove it. The case at hand is a civil defamation suit, and with this concession, Rudy's admitting he did in fact defame these two Georgia election workers.
