Former Donor To Clinton Sues Judicial Watch
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A donor who has dogged Senator Clinton over misreporting of contributions to her 2000 campaign, Peter Paul, filed a federal lawsuit yesterday accusing a conservative group that once backed his legal crusade of abandoning him and improperly seeking to raise funds off of his case.
Paul’s suit alleges that Judicial Watch backed out of a 2001 agreement to defend him against criminal securities fraud charges and to pursue a civil case against President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, and others for swindling him. Paul also accuses Judicial Watch’s president, Thomas Fitton, who is not an attorney, of practicing law without a license.
“Even Tom Fitton and Judicial Watch are not above the law,” Paul said, echoing the slogan of the group known for peppering the Clinton administration with lawsuits over fund-raising junkets, privacy violations, and alleged coverups. “They’re acting like the Clintons and I’m not a big fan of their behavior.”
An attorney for Judicial Watch, Richard Driscoll, dismissed Paul’s assertions. “Mr. Paul is an admitted felon, I think four times now, and we believe his claims are baseless,” he said. “I can categorically state that Tom Fitton has never claimed to be a lawyer.”
Judicial Watch is facing a separate lawsuit from its former chairman, Larry Klayman, who contends the group breached its 2003 severance agreement with him and falsely accused him of owing the organization more than $250,000.
Paul has complained on the Internet that Mr. Klayman allowed him to languish in a Brazilian prison for two years by urging him to fight extradition to America. However, Mr. Driscoll noted that Paul’s suit against Judicial Watch was filed by the same attorney who is pursuing Mr. Klayman’s claim against the group. “I’m intrigued by the coincidence,” he said. “The adage ‘Politics makes strange bedfellows’ is probably appropriate.”
“I didn’t align myself with anybody,” Paul said yesterday. “It was really to develop an economy of scale in a complex lawsuit.”
Paul, who has three drug and fraud convictions from the 1970s and 1980s, pleaded guilty to a securities fraud charge in 2005 and is awaiting sentencing.
