Tufts delays Scaramucci event after he threatens suit over op-ed pieces
Former White House spokesman Anthony Scaramucci/Shutterstock.com.
Tufts University has postponed an appearance scheduled for Monday by former White House spokesman Anthony Scaramucci after he threatened to sue the school’s newspaper for defamation.
The university said it was postponing the Scaramucci event until the legal matters are resolved, report the Boston Globe, USA Today, Salon and Reuters. The Tufts Daily published the letter (PDF) by Scaramucci’s lawyer, Samuel Lieberman of Sadis & Goldberg.
The Lieberman letter asked the school’s publication to retract and apologize for “egregiously false statements” in op-ed columns here and here that criticized Scaramucci’s position on the Board of Advisers at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. Scaramucci is a Tufts graduate.
The letter said Scaramucci was “ready to take legal action” if the newspaper did not comply with the demands. The targeted statements called Scaramucci:
• “An unethical opportunist” who “exuded the highest degree of disreputability.”
• “Sold his soul in contradiction to his own purported beliefs for a seat in that White House.”
• “Cares about gaining attention and nothing more.”
• “Makes his Twitter accessible to friends interested in giving comfort to Holocaust deniers.” The letter says Scaramucci is seeking to combat Holocaust denial.
Scaramucci commented in a tweet late Sunday. “I was ready to come to the school,” he said. “Nobody is going to call my ethics into question without a fight. An apology will suffice.”
