P2
After the jury leaves, Rakoff incredulously asks Palin about her comments that she doesn't dance or sing.
Rakoff: "You are missing one of the great joys in life. I am encouraging you to reconsider."
Rakoff discloses that his wife, who is an "expert" in ballroom dancing, is in the courtroom.
Notably:
Palin appeared to describe little tangible impact from the 2017 editorial.
She testified about death threats **preceding** the 2017 editorial from the Loughner connection, but not about threats, lost wages, or other consequences—other than lost sleep—*following* it.
Her direct examination is over—and her lawyer spent little time trying to thread that needle.
We're back.
Questioning turns to Jan. 8, 2011, the date of the Loughner shooting.
Palin agrees that some in the press criticized her after that, and she put out a statement. The NYT's lawyer David Axelrod shows her the statement for identification.
It's received as an exhibit.
Q: Did you write this last statement?
She says yes, but adds a couple of people were helping her.
Part of her statement:
"My heart broke for the innocent victims [...] We do mourn for the victims' families as we express our sympathies."
It also states.
"Vigorous and spirited debate during elections are among our most cherished traditions."
Palin's statement at the time continued:
"If you don't like their ideas, you're free to propose better ideas."
It also, much more controversially, compared criticism of her to a "blood libel."
The "blood libel" was the antisemitic lie that Jews used the blood of Christian babies in their matzoh, leading to centuries of persecution and massacres against Jewish people.
Palin's invoking the phrase for herself sparked widespread condemnation.
Sarah Palin's 'Blood Libel' Charge Stirs New Controversy
Palin's use of "blood libel" has drawn criticism because it recalls a vicious anti-Jewish lies. J Street, the Jewish organization, asks her to retract her statement and use something less inflammatory…
https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpoli ... -blood-lib
Palin ducks a number of questions from the NYT's attorney about whether she meant "blood libel" to refer to news outlets tying her to the Loughner shooting.
She says it's about "the power of the pen, the power in words."
Q: Did any journalists say 'Go out there and hunt Sarah Palin because of the crosshairs map'?
Palin says she's seen her face in crosshairs, "so yes."
Q: Who?
A: I don't have it in front of me, but I have years of that kind of graphic or statement or death threats.
Q: Your use of the [phrase] "blood libel" created more criticism, yes?
A: Correct.
Asked whether she hired a PR firm to repair her image after the Loughner controversy, Palin replies that she never hired PR firms.
It's not her practice, she said.
Axelrod asked Palin whether one of her first reactions to the editorial was to consider a lawsuit.
She agrees: "I knew something had to be done."
The NYT's attorney David Axelrod refers to her tweet saying she's "exploring options" regarding litigation.
Before tweeting that, Axelrod asks: "You didn't reach out to the Times to ask for a correction, did you?"
She agrees she didn't.
Palin:
"No, they just accused me of inciting murder. I didn't think I would get a friendly response."
Later:
"I did not personally reach out an unfriendly recipient of what I'd be requesting of them. It was common sense. They knew that they were printing an untruth."
Q: Fair to say, you never sought an apology from the Times, did you?
She didn't.
Palin quibbles over the language that she "circulated" the crosshairs map.
"It was on a website," she says, noting it was months before the shooting.
(No link was established.)
"Sarah Palin Tells a Jury That Her Defamation Suit Against the New York Times Is Just Like David vs. Goliath"
Axelrod asks her whether she recalls speaking to family about the editorial.
"As I sit here today, in the penalty box, I don't recall specifically," Palin said, amusingly referring to the Plexiglas enclosure that are witness stands in the age of COVID-19.
Q: In this case, you're not seeking to recover any lost income, correct?
A: Not lost income, but [...]
Rakoff interjects to tell the jury that it's a legal matter and not something sought in her lawsuit.
Q: You can't identify anybody who's shied away from you as a result of the editorial?
A: I can't name names.
Q: You can't specifically identify any candidates who's shied away from you as a result of the publication of the editorial?
She says generally "things changed" after the editorial.
"I can't specifically give you any name of someone who told me that they didn't want me to help them," Palin said.
Axelrod asked whether she spent any money on a PR firm or other such professional to try to repair Palin's reputation.
Palin's lawyer objects, asking for a sidebar.
Rakoff grants that request, and they huddle.
Confronting about her claim of lost sleep, Palin insists that it was "hard to lay my head peacefully on the pillow at night, yes."
Q: Did you see a doctor about that?
A: No.
Q: Did you take any medication?
A: No.
Palin: "I holistically remedied any issues caused by stress."
Q: You believe Americans should have the right to voice their opinions, right?
A: Yes.
Q: Even if it's an unpopular opinion?
A: Absolutely.
Q: That's the beauty of the First Amendment, right?
A: Right.
She adds later: "As long as everyone's speaking truthfully."
Axelrod notes that part of the faith of the First Amendment is that the truth will eventually win out, setting the stage for his questions about the NYT's prompt correction.
Q: Gov. Palin, isn't it true that you've recently talked about running for office again?
Palin responds that: "The door's always open."
NYT's counsel notes that, since the editorial, she's been Fox News and appeared on Turning Point USA.
She says she's appeared twice for the latter.
Cross-examination ends.
Redirect by her lawyer begins.
Palin on her "blood libel" remark: "I did not expect that anybody would take such issue with it."
We resume after the lunch recess.
Palin's attorney asks her about "Don't retreat, reload."
"It was a bumper sticker on my dad's truck forever."
She credits it to her dad's motivational saying. Her parents were marathon runners, she says.
Q: Were sports important in your family?
A: Extremely important.
Palin makes a passing remark about how the Times "circulated" their erroneous editorial.
(She previously claimed her crosshairs map wasn't circulated—because it was just put on her website.)
Recross:
NYT's counsel says that Palin said in August 2021 that she contemplated running for office this year.
She reiterates she may have said at the time: "The door's always open."
Palin notes she sued a couple weeks after the editorial.
She previously testified that she wasn't in politics at the time, but Axelrod has her acknowledge that she hit the trail with a couple Georgia senate candidates.
Palin tweeted this a couple months after filing suit:
"Hitting the trail... stay tuned for details!"
(Note: FB Image and I can't post)
The link touted her bus tour with Judge Roy Moore.
See Who Gov. Palin is Campaigning For In The South
Q: This was September 2017.
A: I think so.
Q: About three months after the publication of the editorial.
She acknowledged that's true.
She left the witness box after that question and answer, ending her testimony