UPDATED: In Legal News

The GOP continues to win in court on election related cases. It sometimes requires appeals, but they're success rate is excellent.

UPDATE: We see in these developments the importance of the emphasis Trump and McConnell have put on flipping Circuit Courts of Appeal. No matter what the capriciousness of Obama judges at the District level, the GOP now has recourse at the Circuit level--without any need for the SCOTUS to get involved, although that may eventually happen. Thus, this evening we learn that the 11th Circuit overturned a Dem attempt to dispense with a requirement to have mailed ballots postmarked. Notably, Barbara Lagoa was one of two Trump appointees on the three judge panel who overturned the District court injunction.

This is excellent: Federal Court: Sandmann’s Libel Suits Against NYT, ABC, CBS, & Rolling Stone Can Proceed.

As Ed Morrissey says, however, those libel suits probably won't proceed for long--because all those media companies will be scared witless at the prospect of Lin Wood conducting discovery. They'll all be settling, and that right quickly:

Note especially the reference to discovery, the process by which attorneys for each side can demand documentation and depositions. That’s what these media outlets want to avoid most. For one thing, that battle is absurdly asymmetrical. How much discovery can these media outlets get from a teenager? On the other hand, Wood can use that process to depose everyone up the managerial chain, right up to the top of the outlets, and use the depositions to wage public war on them.

And they know that’s exactly what Wood will do, too, which is why this fight won’t last much longer with any of these media outlets. They’ll start cutting checks and negotiating for bilateral gag agreements rather than take that risk. If this gets in front of a jury, they’re almost certain to lose anyway. If any rational heads are in charge at these outlets, this will be over by Thanksgiving — if not Halloween.

And this one is quite enjoyable:

Catherine Herridge

#NEW #Bolton Judge Lamberth denies former NSA John Bolton’s motion to dismiss government’s lawsuit against him, in which DOJ claims Bolton disclosed classified information in his book, "The Room Where It Happened." Judge Lamberth found, “the government sufficiently alleges that Bolton breached his prepublication review and predisclosure consultation obligations" + “sufficiently alleges that Bolton breached his nondisclosure obligations.” NOTE: Count 3 - government entitled to “constructive trust” over royalties.

What's Going On In The Nick Sandmann Case?

Perhaps some of you have seen the comments on Twitter? Lefty twits have been suggesting that the settlements that CNN and WaPo entered into were just for "nuisance value". For example, one suggested that CNN gave Sandmann "$25K to go away." What's the reality? I can't claim expertise of any sort re this type of litigation.

Shipwreckedcrew offers his view--Implications of Nick Sandmann’s Settlement With The Washington Post — Money to Fight With:

UPDATED: WaPo Settles With Nick Sandmann

Unfortunately, we don't know the terms of the settlement:

Washington Post settles Nicholas Sandmann defamation lawsuit in Covington Catholic High School controversy

Sandmann announced the victory on Twitter. 

"On 2/19/19, I filed $250M defamation lawsuit against Washington Post. Today, I turned 18 & WaPo settled my lawsuit. Thanks to @ToddMcMurtry & @LLinWood for their advocacy. Thanks to my family & millions of you who have stood your ground by supporting me. I still have more to do," Sandmann wrote on Friday. 

This follows the multi-million dollar settlement CNN made with the teenager back in January.

Sandmann offered a not-so-subtle warning to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. 

"We have settled with WAPO and CNN. The fight isn’t over. 2 down. 6 to go. Don’t hold your breath @jack," Sandmann tweeted.

UPDATE 1: Bonchie over at RedState suggests that this settlement might have involved more money than the earlier CNN settlement. I have no clue, but I'd like for this to be true:

Though we don’t know the exact amount, there’s no doubt Sandmann’s team of lawyers wouldn’t have settled here without extricating their pound of flesh. There was almost certainly a lot of money involved here. 

There’s something special about this compared to the CNN settlement though. The Washington Post was especially belligerent in their response to their defamation of Sandmann, releasing a letter from the editors proclaiming that their subsequent reporting was enough to offset their past defamatory statements. Yet, even their newer reporting left out key details, instead painting the situation as “complicated” when it simply wasn’t. Had the paper simply apologized and retracted immediately when the longer video originally came out, they may have won this lawsuit, but they refused to do so. Their arrogance has now cost them dearly.

UPDATE 2:  Dozens Gather In MAGA Hats In Hopes Washington Post Will Defame Them So They Can Become Millionaires

"It's very strange -- they're not burning anything. They must not be peaceful protesters. Nonetheless, we will not be fooled by this tactic," said a WaPo editor. "We will be able to resist the urge to commit libel against these deplora--I mean, these ordinary Americans."