Court dismisses Tony Bobulinski's $30 million lawsuit against Fox News anchor
- A former Hunter Biden associate, Tony Bobulinski, filed a defamation lawsuit against Jessica Tarlov after on-air statements made about his legal fees.
- Despite Tarlov's clarification and the ruling in her favor, Bobulinski insisted that the comments damaged his reputation.
- The court's decision marks a significant application of New York's anti-SLAPP statute in federal court.
In a recent ruling from a New York federal court, a defamation lawsuit filed by Tony Bobulinski against Fox News anchor Jessica Tarlov was dismissed. The case stemmed from comments made by Tarlov during a broadcast of 'The Five,' where she inaccurately claimed that Bobulinski's legal fees were paid by a Trump Super PAC. Tarlov issued a clarification the next day, stating that while a Trump PAC had compensated the law firm representing Bobulinski, it was not necessarily linked to his legal fees. Bobulinski continued to assert that Tarlov's comments were harmful and misleading, leading him to file the suit. However, the court ruled in favor of Tarlov and awarded her legal fees under New York's anti-SLAPP statute, which aims to protect public participation in legal disputes. The judge noted that Bobulinski had not demonstrated any damage to his reputation as a result of Tarlov's statements, even though the original claim was inaccurate. He highlighted that Bobulinski had previously associated himself with Donald Trump and suggested that being connected to a prominent political figure could not alone cause substantial public ridicule or animosity against him.