DCCC Reviewing Sheldon Adelson’s Lawsuit Threat
Published at
Jerome Favre/Bloomberg via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Las Vegas Casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson has threatened to sue the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) if it does not immediately retract and apologize for what Adelson’s lawyers call defamatory statements, “falsely accusing Mr. Adelson of encouraging and profiting from prostitution.”
ABC News obtained a copy of the letter sent to the DCCC, which claimed articles posted on the DCCC’s website are “outrageous and completely untrue.” The articles were in relation to reports that said the Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO approved and knew of prostitution at the casino’s Macau location.
Adelson’s spokesman denied the claim after it surfaced last month, and his spokesman repeated on Wednesday the assertion that the prostitution claims are false.
While Adelson’s lawyer would not comment on the threatened lawsuit, a spokesman for Adelson told ABC News that he believes the letter and a related legal document “very clearly” speak for themselves.
DCCC spokesman Jesse Ferguson told ABC News that the DCCC just received the letter from Adelson’s legal team, will be internally reviewing it and did not immediately have a response.
Because Adelson is one of the most influential donors in the Republican Party, the DCCC asked on its website in regard to the prostitution claim, “What will Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor and House Republicans do with their Chinese prostitution money?”
In a separate post, Ferguson is quoted saying, “It’s past time for House Republicans to reject the support of these groups funded by foreign money from a Chinese prostitution strategy.”
Adelson’s lawyers claim the DCCC’s statements were “widely repeated” online and caused “serious and irreparable injury to Mr. Adelson and his family.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio