Former counsel to the president John W. Dean continues his discussion of the controversial investigative report by Al Jazeera Investigates that implicates several elite American athletes of illegal doping. Dean discusses the two lawsuits filed in federal court in the District of Columbia and the possible role an anti-SLAPP statute might play in those lawsuits.
In this first of a series of columns, former counsel to the president John W. Dean comments on the Al Jazeera sports doping exposé and the two defamation actions filed this week by Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman. Dean anticipates that these lawsuits might develop into a lengthy legal battle that puts American defamation law to the test.