The editor of the New York Times editorial board on Wednesday took the witness stand in a lawsuit filed by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who claims that a June editorial in the paper defamed her by linking her to a 2011 mass shooting.
James Bennet testified at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in a Manhattan federal court that he meant to link Palin to an “overall climate” of incitement to political violence, but not to say she caused the shooting.
Bennett was called to testify as Rakoff considers whether to dismiss the case or allow it to go to trial. To proceed, Palin must show she has a plausible claim that the Times acted with “actual malice.”
Palin, the former Alaska governor who was Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate in an unsuccessful 2008 campaign, is seeking in excess of $75,000 for compensatory, special and
