ESPN article on Anna Wolfe and the welfare scandal

[Dawgg]

Sorry if Germans, looks like it was published on September 25. It's a long read, but enjoyable so far.

Anna Wolfe won a Pulitzer for a Favre scandal story, now she could face jail

After exposing Mississippi welfare fraud, a journalist and her publication face the former governor's wrath.

www.espn.com

 

[aTotal360]

I tried to take a deep dive into this to understand.

Let me know if I'm wrong here...The turd, Phil Bryant, wants to put this chick in jail because she won't give up her sources.

How is this not a civil case? I assume they are trying to get her on "contempt"? What am I missing?

@Shmuley

 

[Xenomorph]

Is it wrong to imprison journalists who report on corrupt government officials? Should we not do that??

 

[patdog]

I tried to take a deep dive into this to understand.

Let me know if I'm wrong here...The turd, Phil Bryant, wants to put this chick in jail because she won't give up her sources.

How is this not a civil case? I assume they are trying to get her on "contempt"? What am I missing?

@Shmuley

You can go to jail for contempt of court even in a civil case. And the real reason all this is happening is because her boss ran her mouth a lot more than she should have. Bryant probably has a good case here.

But then, in February of last year, just months before the Pulitzers were to be announced, Mississippi Today CEO Mary Margaret White appeared on a panel at a national conference and said: "We're the newsroom that broke the story about $77 million in welfare funds, intended for the poorest people in the poorest state in the nation, being embezzled by a former governor and his bureaucratic cronies and used on pet projects like a state-of-the-art volleyball stadium at Brett Favre's alma mater." (Since White made her statement, Louisiana has passed Mississippi to have the country's highest poverty rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.)

There was a major problem with White's statement: In fact, Wolfe's reporting did not at all suggest Bryant had embezzled money, and the former governor had denied even knowing any funds were misused.

 

[aTotal360]

You can go to jail for contempt of court even in a civil case. And the real reason all this is happening is because her boss ran her mouth a lot more than she should have. Bryant probably has a good case here.

Would issuing a retraction clarifying that point not work?

I don't understand how White saying that would land Wolfe in jail.

 

[L4Dawg]

Wolfe shouldn't be involved in this. Her boss is the one they have a case against.

 

[patdog]

You can't defame someone very publicly and then just post a statement that you "misspoke" on your website (I doubt very prominently on your website) and get away with that.

I'm not a lawyer. Maybe if it comes down to it, Wolfe could avoid jail, while White has to go to jail.

 

[johnson86-1]

Wolfe shouldn't be involved in this. Her boss is the one they have a case against.

He has a case against WOlfe also. Not sure how good it is, but shocking that the "news" article defending Wolfe didn't actually mention what the alleged defamatory statements were:

Then Favre suggested they ask the then-Mississippi governor for help and offer him stock in the company. Bryant bit. The men met with several others for dinner in Jackson at Walker’s Drive-In in late December of 2018. (emphasis added).

1.12 Wolfe published that Bryant committed to investing $25,000 in Prevacus at the December 2018 meeting. Bryant did not commit to investing $25,000 in Prevacus at this meeting or any other occasion. Wolfe’s statement is false, intentionally misleading, and defamatory.

1.13 Wolfe also wrote, "Bryant, who is suing Mississippi Today for defamation and has sent threats to the news outlet for continuing to report this story, declined through an attorney to answer questions about this story or respond to allegations in the latest court filing.” (emphasis added). Wolfe similarly wrote in the article titled “Court Filing Alleges Gov. Phil Bryant Directed Welfare Funds for Illegal Volleyball and Concussion Drug Projects” that “[t]hrough his attorney, Bryant declined to answer questions about the allegations made in the Dec. 12 filing. Bryant, who is suing Mississippi Today for defamation, has sent threats to the news outlet for continuing to report this story, including basic updates about public court documents.” (emphasis added). These statements are false, intentionally misleading, and defamatory. Bryant did not threaten Mississippi Today “for continuing to report this story,” nor has he threatened Mississippi Today for reporting on “basic updates about public court documents.”

https://www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-01-03-Bryant-v.-White-document-120-1-1.pdf

It's hard to prove malice if reporters aren't required to produce any of their notes or sources and not providing some access will just encourage journalists to be more reckless, encouragement that they hardly need. There's also a legit concern that the occasional good that modern journalism does will be reduced if sources fear that they can be outed in a defamation lawsuit.

I don't know which way this should go but neither side seems to be making a frivolous argument, at least based on public policy considerations. No clue what the actual law is.

 

[The Peeper]

You can go to jail for contempt of court even in a civil case. And the real reason all this is happening is because her boss ran her mouth a lot more than she should have. Bryant probably has a good case her

If I'm Wolfe I'll be damned if I would go to jail because my big mouthed boss couldn't keep her mouth shut because she was looking for some publicity for her paper in front of an audience. I'd tell her to pack her knickers and toothbrush because she was sharing a cell with me