Former Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich is suing the Plain Dealer, claiming the Cleveland newspaper intentionally targeted him in an effort to stop his bid to be elected mayor of Cleveland in the 2021 election – an office he previously held from 1977 to 1979.
Kucinich’s lawyers, Aaron Minc and Andrew Stebbins of Minc Law in Orange, filed the slander and libel suit Jan. 4 in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. The lawsuit names the Plain Dealer; Advance Local Media, LLC; Advance Ohio LLC, the company that owns cleveland.com; Chris Quinn, editor of cleveland.com and vice president of content at Advance Ohio; and reporters John Caniglia and Seth Richardson as the defendants.
Along with claiming the newspaper “intentionally targeted” Kucinich’s 2021 mayoral campaign, it also claims the Plain Dealer is liable for defamation by falsely claiming the former congressman took “a significant amount of money from FirstEnergy Corp.,” according to a news release from Minc Law.
The suit, which demands a trial by jury, is seeking damages for reputational harm and other damages, including covering attorney fees and other compensatory and punitive damages, resulting from the allegations.
In addition to serving as Cleveland mayor, Kucinich is a former 16-year member of the U.S. Congress, a former Ohio senator, clerk of the Cleveland Municipal Court and member of Cleveland City Council. The suit notes that during his time as Cleveland mayor, Kucinich “saved” the city’s municipal power system from a takeover by the utility monopoly Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, which is now FirstEnergy Corp. The release said that move saved the city “hundreds of millions of dollars in the decades that followed.”
When Kucinich ran for mayoral office again last year, the lawsuit claims the defendants “did not want (Congressman Kucinich) to run for or become the mayor of Cleveland again. So, the defendants tried to stop plaintiff from successfully running by targeting and defaming his reputation,” according to the release. The lawsuit provides a list of published articles and a podcast that claim the former congressman was running for mayor with the financial backing from FirstEnergy Corp., and that he took “a significant amount of money” from the utility.
The lawsuit specifically referenced a February 2021 story that tied Kucinich to a longtime FirstEnergy supporter and Cleveland businessman, Tony George. When considering his run for mayor, Kucinich accepted “lawful” and appropriate” financial contributions from political backers, including George, the lawsuit said. In discovering those contributions to Kucinich’s campaign, the lawsuit said the defendants, through Kucinich’s connections to George, worked to tie Kucinich to FirstEnergy Corp., “which was at the time, and still is, embroiled in the largest alleged racketeering and bribery sandal in Ohio’s history.”
“To be clear, any allegation that Plaintiff took money from FirstEnergy or consorted with FirstEnergy was completely erroneous,” the lawsuit reads. “Defendants made these accusations intentionally and with knowledge of their falsity,” adding reporters could’ve asked Kucinich to “confirm the truth or falsity of the allegation” when interviewed for the Feb. 21 story.
The story and a podcast that explored the same content later had the allegation edited out with an editor’s note included later, the lawsuit said.
In a Jan. 5 email to the Cleveland Jewish News, Quinn said with litigation, responses to the lawsuit’s claims will be made in the pleadings.
“We were transparent about what happened at the time, which remains on the record on our platforms,” Quinn said.
The lawsuit also notes that in 2021, the Plain Dealer published additional “articles passionately advocating” for the public to vote for other candidates running for mayor, stating “whatever you do, don’t vote for Dennis Kucinich,” the release said. The suit also says the paper claimed Kucinich engaged in “constant violence mongering.”
“This lawsuit is about a news organization pursuing a political agenda to use any means at their disposal to stop Congressman Kucinich from being elected mayor of Cleveland,” Minc said in the release. “Congressman Kucinich had nothing to do with the alleged bribery scandal involving FirstEnergy Corp. Neither he nor his campaign consorted with or took any financial contributions from the utility.”
Minc said the Plain Dealer, its reporters and managing editor couldn’t “stomach the idea” of Kucinich being re-elected as Cleveland mayor, so they “maliciously targeted and defamed Congressman Kucinich’s reputation and legacy in the absolute worst way they could reasonably come up with.”
“This malicious and capricious vandalism of the First Amendment cannot be left to stand,” Minc said in the release. “He did not deserve this assault on his reputation and legacy. No news or media organization, no matter how powerful, should be able, for its own political ends, to shred an honest and honorable man’s reputation to pieces without consequences.”
Justin Bibb was sworn in as Cleveland’s 58th mayor on Jan. 3.
Publisher’s note: Aaron Minc is a member of the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company Board of Directors.