From yesterday's opinion by Judge Paul Oetken (S.D.N.Y.) in Bobulinski v. Tarlov:
The following facts are drawn from the allegations in Plaintiffs' complaint, which are presumed true for the purpose of resolving Tarlov's motion to dismiss.
Anthony Bobulinski is a "successful businessman" and former "business partner" of Hunter Biden. Stefan Passantino is an attorney and founder of Elections LLC who represented Bobulinski in front of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability ("House Oversight Committee"). Jessica Tarlov is a commentator on Fox News and co-host of its popular television program, The Five.
Bobulinski worked with Hunter Biden in 2017, when Bobulinski served as the CEO of SinoHawk Holding, "a [Chinese] company designed to find investments in the United States." During the course of this business partnership, Bobulinski became "concerned" that Hunter Biden was allegedly misusing company funds and "profiting off of his father's name when [his father] was Vice President of the United States."
Bobulinski began "speaking publicly against the Biden family" in 2020. Since he "came forward" about the Bidens' alleged misconduct, Bobulinski has "spent over $500,000 of his own money on legal fees." And, according to Bobulinski, "[n]either President Trump, nor any persons or entities affiliated with President Trump, have ever paid" for Bobulinski's legal fees.
On March 20, 2024, Mr. Bobulinski appeared as a witness before the House Oversight Committee to testify about "the conduct he witnessed by Joseph Biden, Hunter Biden, and Biden Family business associates." Passantino represented Bobulinski for the appearance and attended the hearing with his client. Bobulinski paid Passantino directly both for this matter and "several years of previous representation."
During the hearing, Representative Jasmine Crockett said on the floor of the House:
Mr. Bobulinski, I know that you take exception to the fact that your credibility has been called into question over and over[.] [D]o you know who Elections LLC is? … I'd ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a document indicating that the law firm representing Tony Bobulinski was paid $10,000 as recently as January of this year by the Save America PAC, which you may recognize as Donald Trump's PAC.
Later that day, during Fox News's live taping of its nightly show, The Five, Tarlov commented on the House Oversight Committee hearing and said: "Ok, Tony Bobulinski's lawyers' fees have been paid by a Trump Super PAC. That's as recently as January."
In response to that statement, Plaintiffs sent Tarlov a letter "demand[ing] that Ms. Tarlov retract and apologize for her defamatory comments" about Bobulinski's legal fees. During the March 21st airing of The Five, Tarlov said:
I would like to clarify a comment I made yesterday during our discussion of Tony Bobulinski's appearance at the congressional hearing. During an exchange with my colleagues about the hearing, I said that Mr. Bobulinski's lawyer's fees have been paid for by a Trump Super PAC as recently as January. What was actually said at the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC. I have seen no indication that those payments were made in connection to Mr. Bobulinski's legal fees, and he denies that they were. Alright.
Bobulinski didn't find the follow-up statement to be adequate, and sued for defamation and a related tort. No liability, the court concluded, in part of the following grounds:
