SALON

Friday, Feb 8, 2013 10:19 PM UTC

Birthers turn on each other in court

In a libel suit, attorney Philip Berg accuses Orly Taitz of "deplorable" harassment against his paralegal [UPDATED]

By

Topics: Orly Taitz, Philip Berg, Birthers, Barack Obama,

Birthers turn on each other in court (Credit: Wikipedia)

Birther attorney Philip Berg called birther queen Orly Taitz’s actions “deplorable” this week before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a hearing related to a libel suit against Taitz.

Berg, most notable for filing the first-ever birther lawsuit against President Obama in 2008, appeared opposite Taitz before the court after a federal judge in California declined to dismiss Berg’s complaint (and threatened sanctions against Taitz).

During the hearing, Berg accused Taitz of acting ”with malice,” saying: ”They’ve decided that they’re going to get rid of me politically in a certain case. To do that they’re decided to get rid of me by taking down my paralegal.”

From Courthouse News:

Taitz, usually the plaintiff in unsuccessful challenges to the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency, faces a civil suit alleging that she and her organization, Defend Our Freedoms Foundation, defamed attorney Philip Berg and his paralegal, Lisa Liberi.

Berg and Liberi say Taitz found Liberi’s personal information, including her Social Security number, and then mass-emailed the information and published it online.

Berg and Liberi allege that Taitz first contacted Berg in 2008 for help filing a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to prevent President Obama from taking office. When Berg wouldn’t take the case, Taitz and the Defend Our Freedoms Foundation retaliated, and according to the suit they “have sent Plaintiff Lisa Liberi’s Social Security number and personal data via e-mail in mass mailings, media groups, internationally and to 1000′s of undisclosed recipients, requesting the information to be posted on websites across the Internet and have been harassing Plaintiff Lisa Liberi, Philip J. Berg, Esquire and the Law Offices of Philip J. Berg.”

In addition, there are several other plaintiffs in the suit who allege that Taitz, among other things, “has placed JS Kit software which is a ‘tracking’ and ‘hacking’ software on her Defend our Freedoms Foundation, Inc., websites and blogs in order to ‘track’ and ‘hack’ individuals and their computers who have visited her websites.”

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect that Berg and Liberi are not the only plaintiffs in the libel suit.

Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 18 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations