Investigation
Last November, in the Observer of London, investigative
journalist Gregory Palast ‘broke the biggest and least-known story
behind Bush’s theft of the presidency.’ Now Palast writes about the
woes of dealing with a retaliatory libel suit brought by Bush
family allies. The Guerrilla News Network, a Web site
affiliated with Peter Gabriel’s nonprofit organization, WITNESS,
posted Palast’s update.
It was Palast’s research published in the Observer, Salon.com,
The Nation, and the Washington Post that provided the
basis for an investigation by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission that
found massive voter disenfranchisement in Florida. He originally
discovered the 50,000 Florida voters wrongly classified as
felons–a disproportionate number of them black.
In the same story, ‘The Best Democracy Money Can Buy,’ Palast
revealed the elder Bush’s ties to various corporations that helped
bankroll Dubya’s presidential campaign, including Barrick Gold
Mining of Canada, which later sued Palast and the Observer
over allegations that the company killed 50 independent miners who
had refused to leave mining property in Zaire. The story was based
on an Amnesty International report that has not been verified
because Zaire’s government refuses to allow an independent
investigation into the mines located there.
‘My entire continuing investigation is in jeopardy,’ Palast writes.
‘It is difficult to imagine how my paper, owned by the nonprofit
Scott Trust, myself, and human rights lawyer Lissu can withstand
the financial punishment of litigation.’
–Sara V. Buckwitz
Go there>>
Related:
• Read the offending article on Palast’s website,
‘The Best Democracy Money Can Buy’
