SDNY COURTHOUSE, Aug 12 – Binance sued Dow
Jones and the Wall Street Journal for an article about
sanctions violations and alleged retaliation. On August 12
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer held argument on WSJ's motion to
dismiss. Inner City Press live tweeted:
Judge
Engelmayer: What about defamation by implication?
Judge
Engelmeyer:
What if there was no subheadline here, and it just said,
Binance fired staff who flagged the use of Binance to
funnel money to Iran. If you stop there-
WSJ lawyer: You can't stop at the headline
WSJ
lawyer: The article says fund flowed to the Houthis in
Yemen. Binance claims to deny it, in Exhibit 9, page 1.
They say they took action. But they do not deny that
billions traveled on the Binance platform. It widgies
around the claim
WSJ
lawyer: The article never said that the flow of money
was knowing. It's like we're telling the story through a
looking glass. It's our editorial judgment. They did not
plead actual malice
WSJ
lawyer from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP: The article is
consistent in this with the NYT and Fortune and so is
responsible journalism.
[Note:
In NYS v Luigi Mangione case, defense says OCA has
outsourced the selection of 68 trial journalists to
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP which represents 12 legacy
medias.
Note 2: We support anti-SLAPP laws etc - but big footing
in 100 Centre, not a good look...]
Judge
Engelmayer: I take you to be saying that once Binance
wrote its own blog post, it justified moving forward
with the story.
WSJ lawyer DWT: They tried to manipulate public opinion
with blog posts.
Judge: Is there case law on this?
WJS lawyer DWT: NYT...
Judge:
If a source says, this is off the record, can the
journalist still publish?
WSJ lawyer DWT: There has to be a meeting of the minds.
I have not had that conversation and would not tell you
if I had, I'd call it a privileged conversation
WSJ
lawyer DWT: The reporter agreed to speak with Binance on
the 10th, they asked to put it off.
Judge: This is in your declaration, with all the emails?
WSJ lawyer DWT: Yes.
Judge: Did Binance's criminal conviction play a role?
WSJ lawyer: No.
Binance
lawyer:
Yes there was a 2023 plea agreement. But Binance has
broken up criminal records from India to Brazil. We are
here because they stated and implied Binance tried to
cover up by firing employees.
Judge: Weren't some investigators fired?
Binance: Some
Binance
lawyer:
They say, They filed the staff that flagged $1 billion
in flows to Iran. Then the probe-
Judge: Let's stick with the firing.
Binance lawyer: They connect the two.
Judge: What' the problem with the illustration of the
exploding tank?
Binance: IRCG
WSJ
lawyer from DWT: They just don't like the article.
Judge: They're saying the implication about shutting
down the unit was false.
WSJ lawyer: The article made the timeline clear.
Under
advisement
- will follow.
More
on X for Subscriber here and Substack here
The case is Binance Holdings Limited v. Dow
Jones & Company, Inc., 1:26-cv-1980 (Engelmayer)