The Intercept - Erik Prince won’t back down

Prince’s defamation suits against The Intercept have now been tossed out three times, but he’s filed notice of an appeal. This is the weaponization of libel law: billionaires using their deep pockets to chill journalism.




I wanted to be sure you saw this important update about Erik Prince’s lawsuit against The Intercept. Will you donate to help support our fearless investigative reporting today?

A federal judge has thrown out the latest defamation lawsuit against The Intercept by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater.

But Prince refuses to give up.

Prince’s defamation suits against The Intercept have now been tossed out three times, but he’s filed notice of an appeal.

This is the weaponization of libel law: billionaires using their deep pockets to chill journalism. Lawsuits like these drain news organizations of time and money. The Intercept refuses to back down or be distracted from our core mission.

That’s why we’re asking readers today: Will you donate to make sure The Intercept can keep investigating deep-pocketed individuals and corporations — even if they try to tie us up in court?

The weaponization of libel law is simply a fact of life for journalists today. Big corporations including tobacco giants and billionaires like Peter Thiel have used libel suits to silence unfavorable news coverage.

Lawsuits like these don’t have to be successful in court to have a chilling effect on journalism. By forcing news outlets to defend themselves, defamation lawsuits send a message loud and clear: Investigating the rich and powerful could come at a steep cost.

We’ll never back down in the face of this kind of legal bullying. The Intercept has some of the best investigative reporters in the world — and our legal team includes top First Amendment litigators who simply don’t fold under pressure.

Our nonprofit newsroom depends on the support of readers like you to continue this crucial work.

Will you donate $5 to help support The Intercept’s hard-hitting investigative journalism?

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Thank you,

Jeremy Scahill
Co-founder

The Intercept’s fiscal sponsor is First Look Institute, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization (tax ID number 80-0951255).

The Intercept’s mailing address is:
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The Intercept is an award-winning nonprofit news organization dedicated to holding the powerful accountable through fearless, adversarial journalism. Our in-depth investigations and unflinching analysis focus on surveillance, war, corruption, the environment, technology, criminal justice, the media and more. Email is an important way for us to communicate with The Intercept’s readers, but if you’d like to stop hearing from us, click here to unsubscribe from all communications. Protecting freedom of the press has never been more important. Contribute now to support our independent journalism.

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