On December 2nd a story appeared in the New York Times detailing how two Georgia election workers filed suit against the right-wing propaganda outlet The Gateway Pundit for defamation. This follows announcements that Dominion Voting systems is initiating legal action against a variety of individuals who helped promote Trump’s big lie about the 2020 election being “stolen”. Anthony Fauci should strongly consider following the lead of those election workers, as there is no doubt that he has amble grounds to seek relief under existing defamation precedents. Targets worthy of consideration for a string of lawsuits brought by Dr. Fauci would include FOX News, Newsmax, One America News, The Gateway Pundit, and Breitbart. He may also wish to bring suit against private individuals, such as Judy Mikovitz, and any parties that were involved in the production of the “Plandemic” conspiracy theory video.

28 U.S. Code § 4101 defines the term “defamation”: “The term “defamation” means any action or other proceeding for defamation, libel, slander, or similar claim alleging that forms of speech are false, have caused damage to reputation or emotional distress, have presented any person in a false light, or have resulted in criticism, dishonor, or condemnation of any person.” There is no question that the rampant false claims brought by media outlets have been laughably false (claims of magnetization and “tracking nanobots”), presented Dr. Fauci in a false light (such as recent comparisons to “Dr. Mengele”) and have resulted in widespread criticism and condemnation of Dr. Fauci.

In the case New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court ruled that “Factual error, content defamatory of official reputation, or both, are insufficient to warrant an award of damages for false statements unless “actual malice” — knowledge that statements are false or in reckless disregard of the truth — is alleged and proved.” Where Fauci would be likely to prevail would be under the “reckless disregard of the truth” clause. There is no question that the modern right-wing propagandasphere is a place where right-wing pundits typically blurt out innuendo and conspiracy theories that are then recirculated among various right-wing sites ad nauseum until they take hold with conservatives and lead to endless repetition and internet memes. Fox’s own lawyers once tried to avoid a defamation suit involving Tucker Carlson by arguing that “It’s not really news because no rational person believes anything that Tucker Carlson says.” This kind of behavior demonstrates the “reckless disregard for the truth” required for legal relief under NYT v. Sullivan.

There is also abundant evidence of coordination between right-wing politicians and the right-wing propagandasphere. As an example, a recent Washington Post article described the persistence of false claims about “gain of function” research being funded by the National Institute of Health, at Fauci’s direction. Those claims have been repeated by a number of Republican lawmakers, and it is well known that FOX personalities were “embedded” in the Trump White House, and regularly acted as a mouthpiece for the Trump Administration. Donald Trump was a personal friend of Chris Ruddy, the owner of Newsmax, a station that Trump regularly referred to after becoming angry over FOX calling the Presidential election for Biden in the state of Arizona. One America News allegedly has ties to the Kremlin, which supported Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign. Discovery in this case could prove interesting, as if it is established that the propagation of false and malicious claims regarding Dr. Fauci was coordinated between right-wing politicians and media outlets for the purpose of advancing a partisan political agenda, that would show the court that these outlets knowingly made false statements with the intention of harming Dr. Fauci’s public image, and provide additional support for the awarding of damages.

The fallout from the rampant corruption of the Trump Administration and the malfeasance of the modern day GOP appears to be overwhelming our nation’s Inspector Generals and the Department of Justice. Stemming the rising tide of corruption and disinformation within the GOP is proving to be a monumental task. We have now reached a point where individuals who are victims of false and malicious claims from the right-wing propagandasphere should begin using civil proceedings to seek relief. It is clear that Dr. Anthony Fauci has standing to bring legal action against a variety of right-wing propaganda outlets, and he should follow the example of Dominion Voting Systems and election workers in Georgia, to seek relief from those who have engaged in coordinated false claims against him.