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Reason
Reason
Politics
Eugene Volokh

Pentagon Contractor's Fraudulent Misrepresentation Claim Over Hidden Date Recording by O'Keefe Media Group Can Go Forward

From today's decision by Judge Amit Mehta (D.D.C.) in Mannina v. O'Keefe Media Group:

In January 2025, Plaintiff Jamie Mannina, then a federal defense contractor, went on what he believed were two genuine dates with a woman named "Heidi." Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, "Heidi" was actually Defendant [redacted], a person hired by Defendants O'Keefe Media Group ("OMG") and James O'Keefe to elicit from Plaintiff details about his political views and federal employment history and to film and record his statements. Defendants used this footage of Plaintiff to create videos and articles for a series called "Dating the Deep State," which Plaintiff alleges paint him as a Pentagon official conspiring with other federal officials to undermine then-President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration.

Mannina sued on various grounds; I discussed the court's treatment of plaintiff's defamation and false light claim in a separate post, but here's what the court had to say about the fraudulent misrepresentation claim:

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