By Patrick
Sarah Palin's 9/11 copyright trial has already kept us busy with two long, detailed posts, which included lots of documentation on the September 14, 2013 and recently on March 25, 2015. In the last post, we reported that despite various assurances by Sarah Palin's lawyer that they really, really want a settlement, this did not happen due to almost comical circumstances: Good luck with trying to reach Sarah Palin! Let's just say that it is pretty difficult indeed.
In any case, her lawyers finally managed to talk to Sarah, and now we know where the problem lay: Sarah Palin, the woman who can never admit to having made a mistake, due to her legendary personality disorder, strikes again. Yes, she wants a settlement, because the dispute is a lost cause for her, as we also explained in our previous post, but she also does not want the world to know that she did in fact compromise.
Because Sarah Palin is "THE UNDEFEATED", and compromise simply is not an option for her! "Compromise" sounds a ot like "defeat", doesn't it? Unless of course, the compromise can be kept secret. Then it is apparently perfectly fine.
That is what I call a predicament. We can almost visualize Sarah Palin shouting at her lawyer: Make it happen, you elitist New York bastard! No, she probably didn't say it like that, but in any case, she definitely wanted him to proceed with the settlement, as we learn from the recent court documents. But she also wanted the details to be kept confidential, because compromise is apparently just appropriate for liberal losers, and not for a strong frontier women who kills animals to fill her fridge.
So her New York lawyer, Ronald D. Coleman, tried to earn his money and submitted a "sealed" filing, a "motion under seal", only to be sharply rebuked by the trial judge immediately afterwards, explaining that the fact that the motion was only supported by attorney certification was "insufficient":
Screenshot from the docket, download it here.
Therefore Sarah Palin's lawyer wanted certain documents to be sealed, and the judge warns him that unless a "compliant motion" is filed, the "Court will issue a further order unsealing the documents."
In his (insufficient) certification which Ronald D. Coleman submitted together with his motion, he explains: "As set forth in the filings themselves, releasing this material from its current sealed status would result in harm and would severely undermine not only the motion being filed but the ability of the Court to achieve its goal to achieve a negotiated settlement among the parties."
Translation: "My client shouted at me to keep everything secret, because she does not want to make any embarrassing public compromises."
Screenshot:
Download the full document here.
As you can imagine, the plaintiff, North Jersey Media Group, was not pleased. They apparently thought: If Sarah Palin wants to play games, we can play games as well - only much better.
Because what documents could be so sensitive that Sarah Palin is desperate to keep them sealed? Maybe negotiations between the lawyers about the settlement?
BULLSEYE! So why don't the lawyers for North Jersey Media Group just make these negotiations public? Oh wait, they just did!
It's just wonderful: In return, or should I say retaliation, the plaintiff submitted the original email conversations, which leave no open questions any more (Brian Farkas is the colleague of Ronald D. Coleman):
So now we know that Sarah Palin is willing to settle for $ 15,000, but at the same time she does not want her minions to know that she wasted huge resources from SarahPAC for nothing. The legal bill for 1 1/2 years of proceedings will be massive, and the $ 15,000 for the settlement will just be a drop in the ocean compared to the legal expenses.
Sarah Palin could have just apologised for the unauthorised use of the photo for fundraising purposes, and could have easily avoided a trial. But for Sarah Palin, it's all, or nothing. She will never admit a mistake, even if there will be a huge bill in the end, which then has to be paid by her fans via their donations to SarahPAC.
This is the character of the woman who the Republican Party wanted to be one heartbeat away from the US Presidency.
Even more embarrassingly, the lawyers for North Jersey Media Group revealed in their extensive new filing from April 20, 2015 (in which they also submitted the emails as exhibits)
2. On or about December 18, 2014, NJMG and defendants SarahPAC and Sarah Palin (collectively, “Palin”) tentatively agreed in principle upon Palin’s payment of an amount to settle this case. Attached as Exhibit A is a true and accurate copy of the email Mr. Brian Farkas, counsel for Palin, sent to me at 6:29 p.m. on December 18, 2014.
3. The parties, however, could not initially agree on whether there would be a confidentiality clause. Palin asserted that there must be a broad confidentiality clause. NJMG disagreed. Attached as Exhibit B are true and accurate copies of emails between Mr. Farkas and me on December 22, 2014.
4. Shortly thereafter, Palin’s counsel, Ronald Coleman, Esq., told me that Palin required a confidentiality clause because her political action committee did not want any hint of compromise associated with her name.
5. NJMG did not want to agree to a confidentiality provision because it is one of the largest news providers in New Jersey, and the lawsuit was a matter of public concern.
Screenshot:
"No hint of compromise associated with her name!"
This is truly epic. It's a real shame that the late Joe McGinniss could not see this any more.
Download:
Filing by North Jersey Media Group in opposition to "sealed" motion by Sarah Palin's lawyer
Email 1
Email 2
Email 3
So now we can say good-bye to the secret settlement!
In a rather comical twist, Sarah Palin's lawyer Ronald D. Coleman then quickly conceded on April 21, 2015 that due to the clever response by the plaintiff with the enclosure of the "incriminating" emails, the reason for "sealing" has disappeared:
Download the document here.
I guess that somebody should have warned Coleman that Sarah Palin is not your "everyday" client.
The lawyers for North Jersey Media Group also filed an additional extensive explanation, arguing that a settlement has not been concluded yet.
Download the document here.
So what will happen now?
The media reported that there will be "a decision on the dispute in the coming weeks", but the scope of this decision remains uncertain. After all, North Jersey Media Group asked the court in February and March to reactivate their pending motions, that were put on hold in December due to the impeding settlement.
Therefore it seems possible that the settlement could fall through entirely. Which would mean more wasted resources for SarahPAC, as they have no chance to win this case, just as Fox News lost an almost identical case in February 2015.
But don't blame Sarah Palin. Did I already mention that she is the victim here? I mean, she is just a housewife from Wasilla, how could she possibly understand all these legal details. I mean, WASILLA! Have you ever been there? Well, I haven't, but I heard that the population there is not exactly famous for their legal expertise. So don't blame her! Blame these fancy New York lawyers! If they cannot keep secrets, they should ask their client for help, because Sarah Palin has not shortage of secrets, and most of the time she manages to keep them. Over and out! :-)
