The Intercept - $200,000 in legal bills

Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater, is making a third attempt at his defamation lawsuit against The Intercept.

We’ve spent over $200,000 on legal fees fighting off this action, on top of the countless hours spent on these cases by our internal legal team.

Make no mistake: We stand by our reporting on Prince 100 percent. As the founder of one of the most powerful private mercenary armies in the world, Erik Prince is absolutely worthy of journalistic inquiry.

But lawsuits like this can blow a major hole in our budget. That’s why The Intercept’s sustaining members — thousands of readers who give $5 or $10 a month to support our journalism — are so important.

Knowing that our monthly donors have our backs now and in the future allows us to continue taking on major reporting projects, even when powerful individuals or corporations fight back for years.

To ensure we’re fully prepared for whatever fights lie ahead, we’re launching an important April membership campaign today. We’ve set an ambitious goal of adding 3,000 new sustaining members by April 30.

Will you become a member and help support The Intercept’s hard-hitting investigative journalism — as well as the legal team that makes so much of that reporting possible — with a monthly donation today?

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There’s nothing new about powerful individuals and corporations weaponizing libel law to try to silence unfavorable news coverage. It’s a tactic that’s been utilized by everyone from Big Tobacco to the coal industry.

These kinds of lawsuits could become even more dangerous as conservative Supreme Court justices have signaled an openness to revisiting the long-standing precedents that protect the rights of journalists, especially the landmark case New York Times v. Sullivan.

Even when these lawsuits fail, they cost us money and could suck up limited resources. That’s why they’re a win-win strategy for powerful people and corporations looking to shut down critical news coverage.

We won’t let Erik Prince or anyone else bully our journalists into silence. We will keep reporting the facts, and our legal team will keep defending our rights for as long as we possibly can. But we need the ongoing support of a strong base of monthly donors to make this work possible.

Will you show that you have our back by making a monthly donation to help support the investigative journalism of The Intercept?

Become a sustaining member now →

Thank you,