BY LINDA BENTLEY | AUGUST 1, 2012
Judicial Watch founder threatens suit over falsehoods in book
Klayman files notice of appeal in Obama eligibility case
WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Attorney Larry Klayman (r), founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch has threatened a lawsuit if the book “Corruption Chronicles,” a book recently released by Simon & Schuster’s Threshold Editions, is not reissued with a truthful new version and an original non-infringing cover.
Klayman says the book is “full of falsehoods and misrepresentations” regarding the history of Judicial Watch.
According to Klayman, the book is written in such a way that it creates the false impression that the alleged author Judicial Watch’s current President Tom Fitton was responsible for all accomplishments during the years Klayman was actually in charge.
Klayman said, “Written principally by a ghost writer, Ben Shapiro, the book falsely credits Fitton with many of the public interest group’s successes that were actually my achievements, but my name doesn’t even appear once in the book citing Judicial Watch’s accomplishments.”
Klayman founded Judicial Watch in 1994 after 17 years as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and in private practice, to investigate and prosecute government and judicial corruption and abuse.
During his years as the organization’s chairman and general counsel, Klayman said Fitton was his “underling” who “never argued any of the watchdog cases in court, as he is not a lawyer.”
After leaving the organization in 2003 to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida, Klayman said he learned Fitton had not even graduated from college, despite Fitton having presented himself as a graduate at the time he was hired.
Klayman also points out the cover of “Corruption Chronicles,” uses the same red, white and black theme and is “confusingly similar” to the cover of Klayman’s book, “Whores: Why and How I Came to Fight the Establishment,” published in 2009.
There’s no question there’s bad blood between Fitton and Klayman, who said he was forced to sue Fitton in 2005 on behalf of Louise Benson, who donated funds to help Judicial Watch buy the building where it was leasing office space.
However, Klayman said Fitton did not use the funds to purchase the building, which prompted Benson’s lawsuit.
Fitton subsequently agreed to refund the money.
“Fitton passes himself off for something he is not and his conduct is inconsistent with the principles upon which I founded Judicial Watch,” said Klayman, adding, “I call on Fitton and Simon & Schuster to immediately reissue a truthful edition of this book.”
Klayman’s successes and reputation at Judicial Watch prompted NBC’s writers for the hit series “West Wing” to create a character after him, Harry Klaypool of Freedom Watch, played by actor John Diehl.
Klayman liked the name Freedom Watch so much he founded a new watchdog organization by the same name.
Having the distinction of being the only lawyer to ever have a court rule that an American sitting president committed a crime, Klayman brought cases against then-President Bill Clinton’s so-called legal defense fund, where he laundered money from Communist China to pay his legal fees in the burgeoning scandal over Whitewater, which Klayman called “a scam run by his wife, Hillary, to defraud real estate investors in Arkansas.”
Later, he said, the Clintons would receive millions of dollars in Chinese cash to wage legal defenses against a myriad of other scandals that engulfed them during their administration – scandals ranging from Filegate, to Travelgate, to Paula Jones and Lewinsky and, Chinagate, which Klayman was instrumental in uncovering during his years at Judicial Watch.
While Fitton’s book also uses the same color scheme and format as “Whores …,” Klayman said Fitton’s book is trying to pass itself off as and profit from Klayman’s book, and said, “In short, Fitton seeks to pass himself off as his former boss.”
Klayman stated, “The readers of ‘Corruption Chronicles’ deserve not to be deceived. They deserve an honest account of Judicial Watch’s accomplishments, consistent with the ethics ideals of the baby I conceived of and birthed. If the book is not corrected and reissued, I will file suit against Fitton, as he too, consistent with Judicial Watch’s mission to fight corruption, is not ‘above the law.’”
On July 18, in another matter, Klayman filed a notice of appeal on behalf of Michael Voeltz, a member of the Democratic Party, who asserts President Barack Hussein Obama, having been born a British subject, is not a natural born citizen as required by Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
The suit, which was dismissed with prejudice, includes evidence recently presented by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Cold Case Posse, which proves, conclusively, the long form birth certificate posted on the White House website on April 27, 2011 is a computer generated forgery.
Despite Florida statute allowing for a voter to challenge any candidate’s eligibility upon the final certification of his election or nomination, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis dismissed Voeltz’s case on July 2, citing Obama was not presently the Democratic Party’s nominee.
However, Florida statute asserts when there is only one candidate qualified for the primary election, that candidate shall be considered “nominated for office.”
Klayman called Lewis’ order “poorly reasoned” and said, “It goes against prior Florida Supreme Court precedent in particular, thus making our chances on appeal great.”
He stated, “In short, we remain confident that if the Florida courts ultimately decide to obey their own election law, we will prevail in the end.”
Klayman was in Phoenix on July 17, attending Arpaio’s latest press conference, which further cemented the findings of the Cold Case Posse that the birth certificate presented by the White House last year is unquestionably a computer generated forgery.
Klayman called Voeltz’s challenge “possibly the most important case of our lifetime,” and said if Obama were barred from appearing on the Florida general ballot, it would doom his chances of being reelected, while also preventing the precedent that one born with foreign allegiance could be eligible for the presidency.
According to Klayman, Obama is exactly what the framers were trying to prevent by requiring the president to be a natural born citizen.
