Friday, August 28, 2020

New Hampshire U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin has filed a lawsuit against WMUR-TV, the Hearst Family owned TV station in Manchester; the University of New Hampshire and St. Anselm College, a Roman Catholic institution. The lawsuit alleges an extensive pattern of fraudulent behavior by the defendants who publish fraudulent polls and seek to rig primary elections in the state

 

 

New Hampshire U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin has filed a lawsuit against WMUR-TV, the Hearst Family owned TV station in New Hampshire, the University of New Hampshire and St. Anselm College for conducting fraudulent polls and rigged debates. Andy predicts the latest political corruption by these organizations portends the end of the state’s “First In The Nation” (“FITN”) primary.

 

News from:

ANDY MARTIN /2020         

Republican for U. S. Senator

New Hampshire

 

www.AndyMartin2020.com

www.AndyMartin.com

www.FirstRespondersOnline.us

Headquarters:

E-mail: AndyforUSSenator@aol.com

P.O. Box 742

Manchester, NH 03105-0742

Cellphone: (347) 960-9593

Fax (866) 214-3210

Blogs:

www.AndyMartin2020.blogspot.com

www.AndyMartin2020.wordpress.com

 

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For immediate release:

 

August 28, 2020

 

Dear Granite Stater:

 

Today I filed suit in the Superior Court against the University of New Hampshire (“UNH”) and St. Anselm College for conducting fraudulent polls and seeking to deceive the People of New Hampshire. WMUR-TV, owned by the Hearst Family and controlled by liberals from New York, is the instigator and organizer of this criminal behavior by our local institutions.

 

Both UNH and St. Anselm were given an advance opportunity to avoid a lawsuit, and chose to stonewall the citizens of our state and be sued for fraud. That tells you they have something to hide; they know they are acting illegally. In the law, we  draw an “adverse inference” when people prefer to be sued rather than come clean about their misconduct and avoid court.

 

St. Anselm, in particular, as a Catholic college, is presumably held to higher standards of conduct. The state’s toxic political culture has corrupted a religious institution.

 

UNH has increasingly become a disgrace as a state university. UNH hosts a Chinese Communist Party “Confucius Institute.”  The school has now adopted Chinese communist policies and media standards. Our tax dollars are being dumped in an educational sewer in Dover. That situation cannot long continue.

 

What I have endured is detailed, fact by fact, in the dry, legal language of the lawsuit. But the real victims are New Hampshire voters. They are being fed rigged “polls” designed by leftist agitators at UNH and St. Anselm’s. Instead of robust debates with actual opponents and qualified candidates, WMUR is promoting “fights” that are fixed in advance with pre-programmed losers designed to reelect the incumbent senator. Democracy is being raped, right out in public.

 

Other candidates, in the Second Congressional District, are receiving the same abuse as I am. Two years ago, WMUR hosted eleven (11!) Democrats in a debate. Now they are trying to limit Republicans to two (2!) candidates. Who controls the policies of that station? Democrats.

 

In closing, the behavior of these individuals and institutions tarnishes the image of New Hampshire. A state and its media leaders that conduct themselves with such contempt for its citizens and Constitution cannot be trusted any longer with its “First In The Nation” primary status. The latest misbehavior by Steve Schwartz and his media manipulators at the Hearst Corporation in New York, who corrupt New Hampshire’s Constitution and elections through rigged polls and fixed debates, sounds the death knell for FITN status.

 

Institutions survive and deserve public support because they pay homage to the highest ideals of their citizens. The same institutions fail when they allow themselves to be corrupted and show contempt for the people they serve. Democracy dies through repeated violations of election decency.

 

I continue to fight for the People of New Hampshire in court and at the ballot box. I can’t promise you that we will win, but I do promise that the nation will take notice and send the crooks who are corrupting our state elections a strong message: No More FITN. They will pay a high price for their perfidiousness.

 

I hope you agree.

 

 

Andy Martin

 

P. S. Emailed versions of this letter will have attached a copy of the lawsuit and court receipt.

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Please feel free to forward and/or post this email

 

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LINKS TO THIS STORY: (cut and paste the entire link below and not just the underlined portion):

 

 

ANDY MARTIN - A BRIEF BIO:

 

Andy Martin is a legendary New Hampshire-based muckraker, author, Internet columnist, talk television pioneer, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. With over fifty (50) years of background in radio and television and with decades of intelligence, investigative and analytical experience in Washington, the USA and around the world, Andy provides insight on politics, foreign policy, military and intelligence matters. For a full bio, go to: www.AndyMartin.com. See also www.FirstRespondersOnline.us; www.BoycottABC.com/executive_director.htm

 

Andy has also been a leading corruption fighter in American politics and courts for over fifty years and is executive director of the National Anti-Corruption Policy Institute. www.AmericaisReadyforReform.com.

 

He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City University of New York (LaGuardia CC, Bronx CC).

 

He is the author of “Obama: The Man Behind the Mask” [www.OrangeStatePress.com] and produced the Internet film “Obama: The Hawaii’ Years” [www.BoycottHawaii.com]. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of the “Internet Powerhouse,” blogging at www.contrariancommentary.wordpress.com and www.ContrarianCommentary.com.

 

Andy’s family immigrated to Manchester, New Hampshire over 100 years ago; today his home overlooks the Merrimack River and he lives around the corner from where he played as a small boy. He is New Hampshire’s leading corruption fighter and Republican Party reformer.

 

UPDATES:

 

www.twitter.com/AndyMartinUSA

www.Facebook.com/AndyMartin

 

Andy’s opinion columns are posted at ContrarianCommentary.com, ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com and ContrarianCommentary.wordpress.com

 

[NOTE: We try to correct any typographical errors in our stories; find the latest version on our blogs and don’t hesitate to let us know if you find an error.]

 

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© Copyright by Andy Martin 2020 – All Rights Reserved

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Case Number: 219-2020-CV-00252

 

 

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

STRAFFORD, SS               

 

SUPERIOR COURT

 

 

Andy Martin

 

v.

Steve Schwartz,

William R. Hearst, III,

Hearst Television, Inc.,

Adam Sexton,

John DiStaso,

University of New Hampshire,

James W. Dean, Jr.

Andrew E. Smith,

Joseph A. Favazza,

Mark Cooper, OSB,

St. Anselm College,

Neil Levesque.

 

 

COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT,

MONEY DAMAGES AND OTHER RELIEF

 

COUNT ONE

[New Hampshire Right to Know Law]

Names and addresses of the Parties

1. Name and address of Petitioner/Plaintiff

             

For service of pleadings:

Andy Martin

National Litigation Center

             

2. Names and addresses of Respondents/Defendants (boldface)

              

The University of New Hampshire

James W. Dean,

Mr. Andrew Smith

Agent for service of process:

Ronald F. Rogers, Esq.

General Counsel

25 Concord Road

Lee, NH 03861

             

Steve Schwartz,

William R. Hearst, III,

Hearst Television, Inc.,

Adam Sexton,

John DiStaso,

300 W. 57th St.

New York, NY 10019

 

Joseph A. Favazza,

Mark Cooper, OSB,

St. Anselm College,

Neil Levesque

100 St. Anselm Drive

Manchester, NH 03102

 

I.

Limitations

Each Count is related to a different set of defendants as set forth herein. All of the defendants are, however, related to the ongoing civil conspiracy being conducted by all defendants.

Count One is directed at the University of New Hampshire-related defendants.

II.

Jurisdiction and venue

1. The Court has general common law jurisdiction to hear all of the claims presented in this civil action under the New Hampshire Constitution and Statutes.   

2. Venue is proper in Strafford County due to the presence of the University of New Hampshire-related defendants’ and the statewide impact of the defendants’ civil conspiracy.

3. Plaintiff demands a jury trial.

III.

Factual allegations

Note: Although New Hampshire is a “notice pleading jurisdiction,” Porter v. Manchester, 151 N.H. 30, 43, 849 A.2d 103 (N.H. 2004), Plaintiff provides considerable factual detail because he is seeking emergency injunctive relief.

1. The Plaintiff

A. Plaintiff is a legally qualified candidate for U.S. Senator from New Hampshire for the 2020 Republican Party primary election. Plaintiff has decades of extensive public and political experience (www.AndyMartin.com, www.AndyMartin2020.com). As required by federal law, Plaintiff has registered with the Federal Election Commission.      

B. Plaintiff has been featured on a segment on the CBS Television Network. He appeared in what many political observers considered the most controversial cable TV program of the 2008 presidential election, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgjQhnDEGSk.

Plaintiff has repeatedly “debated” in the nation’s third largest television market on the ABC affiliate, WLS-TV.

At the peak of the 2008 presidential election, Plaintiff was featured on the front page of the New York Times as one of the world’s most important stories in the world during that period, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/nyregion/02rooms.html.

C. Plaintiff’s seriousness as a political actor and his national experience and presence cannot seriously be questioned. The defendants’ relentless efforts to denigrate and literally erase Plaintiff’s political status are an embarrassment to the citizens of New Hampshire, who are stuck squarely within the parameters of being manipulated and controlled by what President Trump calls “fake news” media of the Hearst Family.

D. Plaintiff learned of a “debate” being conducted by some of the defendants in September, 2020. Defendants have acted, combined and conspired to exclude Plaintiff from that debate.

2. The defendants

A.  Hearst-related defendants

Defendants Schwartz, Hearst, Hearst Television, Inc., Adam Sexton and John DiStaso are related to the Hearst Corporation, which effectively owns, manages and controls the only TV station in New Hampshire, WMUR-TV, a local monopoly.

B. University of New Hampshire defendants

Defendants University of New Hampshire, Dean and Smith are associated with a taxpayer-funded, public state university.

C. St. Anselm-related defendants

Defendants Favazza, Cooper, St. Anselm and Levesque are related to St. Anselm College. It is not clear whether Favazza or Cooper is the final decision-making authority to preclude college fraud and manipulation. St. Anselm College is a Benedictine facility and thus, presumably, answerable to higher standards of Catholic morality.

3. Right-to-Know Law related facts

A. New Hampshire’s Right to Know Law (“RTK”) is so critical to the state that the legal principles embodied by RTK are embodied in the state’s Constitution, Bill of Rights Art. 8.

B. Plaintiff submitted an RTK request to defendant Smith three (3) weeks ago. Smith denied that he had done any polling on Plaintiff’s primary opponents. In point of fact, Smith had conducted three (3) polls surveying public opinion on two of Plaintiff’s primary opponents.

C. Plaintiff contacted defendant Dean and pointed out Smith’s latest fraud. Plaintiff received an email indicating the matter was being reviewed. As of August 27th, no RTK compliance has been received, to cover-up the fact that Plaintiff’s name was excluded from Smith’s poll in order to erase his candidacy from the public consciousness.

D. New Hampshire law mandates that this lawsuit be expedited, N.H. Stat. 91-A:7.

4. “Right to Run”-law related facts

A. New Hampshire’s Constitution contains an explicit, fundamental right to run for office, Bill of Rights, Art. 11.

B. The actions of the defendants have disrupted and delayed Plaintiff’s constitutional right, and were intended to do so, in order to erase and “cancel” Plaintiff as a candidate for voter consideration.

C. Both the independent and concerted action of the defendants violates Plaintiff’s constitutional right under the New Hampshire Constitution.

5. Fake polling by UNH and St. Anselm

A. UNH is operated as an extension of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. What the NHDP wants, it gets.

B. In 2018, Smith was polling on eleven (11) Democrats but only two Republicans, in order to exclude Plaintiff’s name.

C. In 2020, Smith has only polled on two Republicans, to again exclude Plaintiff’s name from voter consideration.

D. This Court can and must draw an adverse inference from UNH’s constant erasure of Plaintiff’s name from UNH polls, and UNH’s refusal to produce a single sheet of paper in response to Plaintiff’s RTK requests.

E. In 2020, St. Anselm conducted at least two (2) “polls” concerning Plaintiff’s election. The original poll, sometime in January (?) was used as a pretext to exclude Plaintiff from a St. Anselm event in March.

F. St. Anselm conducted a “poll” in August 2020 and again apparently excluded Plaintiff’s name as an option, again with the intent to defraud the public and damage Plaintiff’s candidacy.

G. When the public hears the term “poll,” it assumes that such polls are conducted in a neutral and detached manner, and not intended to be directed at harming one of the actual candidates in the election. Both UNH and St. Anselm have actively schemed to defraud the public, at various times in conjunction with WMUR and the Union Leader newspaper.

6. Fake News reporting by WMUR

A. WMUR has repeatedly reported that there were “two Republicans” running for the U. S. Senate, thereby intentionally spreading the false fact that Plaintiff is neither a Republican nor a candidate. WMUR is actively supporting two of Plaintiff’s opponent with access to the station’s web site, and apparently scheming to conduct a two-candidate “debate.” See, as an example, the daily diet of the latest fake news: https://www.wmur.com/article/nh-primary-source-bolduc-says-he-doesnt-trust-senate-gop-primary-rival-messner/33812724, by a self-styled “most experienced political writer in the state.”

B. WMUR is actively and intentionally acting to violate FCC requirements that station-sponsored debates only be conducted based on neutral criteria. By definition, if a candidate’s name is excluded from the poll, that poll cannot a valid poll as concerns the excluded candidate. WMUR repeated and notoriously engages in illegal activity to inure and harass Plaintiff’s candidacy.

IV.

 

Legal Claim

1. The actions of Smith, Dean and UNH have egregiously and intentionally violated New Hampshire’s Right to Know Act.

2. The refusal by the UNH defendants to comply was an effort to harass, burden and disrupt Plaintiff’s candidacy, and to cover-up that taxpayer money was being used to subsidize polls from the incumbent Democrat and Plaintiff’s primary opponents.

V.

Demand for judgment

Plaintiff prays that the Court award the following

relief:

1. Plaintiff asks that the Court enter an emergency order directing UNH to comply with his RTK requests and suspending the primary election until after UNH complies.

2. Plaintiff asks that the court issue a TRO, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction barring WMUR from conducting a “debate” until it has furnished to this Court evidence of compliance with federal law.

3. Plaintiff asks that the Court enjoin UNH and St. Anselm from conducting “polls” from which Plaintiff’s name is excluded.

4. Plaintiff asks for money damages as the defendants and the evidence may require, as well as any additional declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to do complete justice between the parties.

5. Plaintiff asks this Court to reserve jurisdiction to award additional relief if the defendants should violate the Court’s rulings and/or persist with their defamatory course of conduct.

6. Plaintiff asks this Court for such other relief as may be necessary and proper to do complete justice to Plaintiff, including additional substantial money damages for the Defendants’ unlawful activity if this matter does not come to trial before the scheduled debate in September, 2020.

COUNT TWO

[Violation of New Hampshire Constitutional Right to Run for Office – Bill of Rights Art. 11)]

 

I.

 

Limitations

This Count is directed at all defendants.

II-III.

Plaintiff repeats and realleges ¶¶ II-III of Count One and further pleads:

IV.

Legal Claim

1. The New Hampshire Constitution creates an individual “right to run” for office and that right is a “fundamental” right, Akins v. State,  154 N.H. 67, 904 A.2d 702 (N.H.  2006).

2. The defendants’ individual and concerted activity to disrupt and delay Plaintiff’s fundamental constitutional right to run under the New Hampshire Constitution violates the Constitution and continues to violate Plaintiff’s constitutional right.

V.

Demand for Judgment

Plaintiff prays for the same relief as in Count One.  

Count Three

[Civil Conspiracy under New Hampshire Common Law]

[Applicable to All Defendants]

I.

Limitations

This Count is directed at all defendants.

II-III.

Plaintiff repeats and realleges ¶¶ II-III of Count One and further pleads:

IV.

1. New Hampshire recognizes the law of civil conspiracies, e.g. Appeal of Armaganian, see e.g. 147 N.H. 158, 784 A.2d 1185 (N.H. 2001). This lawsuit arises in response to a series of civil conspiracies, all motivated by an intent to rig the 2020 primary election and damage Plaintiff’s candidacy.

2. WMUR/Union Leader, in conjunction and conspiracy with St. Anselm, are attempting to conduct a sham “debate” showcasing Plaintiff’s opponents and seeking to convey the impression that Plaintiff’s campaign does not exist.

3. Plaintiff’s primary opponents who are being promoted by the defendants include (1) a candidate with a drunk driving arrest and who is under current investigation for felony fraud in Colorado and (2) a candidate with a noticeable cognitive impairment. The efforts to promote rogue’s gallery-style candidates are an effort to direct state, taxpayer-funded sources to the reelection of incumbent Jeanne Shaheen. Plaintiff is being denigrated and erased precisely because he would be a serious opponent for Shaheen.

4. The university and college are doing what UNH has always done and what St. Anselm has started doing, conducting bogus biased “polls” which favor the Democratic Party and seek to erase Plaintiff as a legitimate candidate in the Republican primary.

5. Plaintiff has been and is being damaged by the civil conspiracies organized and orchestrated by the defendants, which is only one in a continuing series of concerted efforts by the defendants.

V.

Demand for judgment

Plaintiff prays for the same relief as in Count One.

Count Four

[Defamation by implication under New Hampshire law]

[Applicable to All Defendants]

I.

Limitations

This count is directed at all defendants.

II-III.

Plaintiff repeats and realleges ¶¶ II-III of Count One and further pleads:

IV.

Legal Claim

1. New Hampshire law recognizes defamation by implication.

2. By deliberately and consciously excluding Plaintiff from their purported “debates,” and pretending Plaintiff does not exist as a candidate, defendants intend to and have defamed Plaintiff by implication, by suggesting he is not a legally-qualified or recognized Republican candidate who should be participating in a party-sponsored or media-sponsored debates.

3. Defendants are constitutionally entitled to their own opinions, on their editorial pages or broadcast comments (or poll commentary). But they are not entitled to their own “facts,” erasing legitimate candidates to deceive the voting public through the use of bogus “polls” and “news” reports which erase Plaintiff as a candidate for office, see e.g. Michaelis v. CBS, 119 F.3d 697, 701-702 (8th Cir. 1997). “Evidence of an intent to avoid the truth…[is] also sufficient to satisfy the more demanding New York Times standard…” Harte-Hanks v. Connaughton, 491 U.S. 657, 693, 109 S.Ct. 2078 (1989) and constitutes “actual malice,” Stokes v. CBS, 25 F.Supp.2d 992, 1004 (D. Minn. 1998). Therefore, Plaintiff’s current claims are soundly grounded in applicable law.

V.

Demand for Judgment

Plaintiff prays for the same relief as in Count One.

COUNT FIVE

[Violation of Consumer Protection Act (CPA), RSA ch. 358-A]

[Applicable to All Defendants]

I.

Limitations

This count is directed at all defendants.

II-III.

Plaintiff repeats and realleges ¶¶ II-III of Count One and further pleads:

IV.

Legal Claim

1. Numerous defendants are engaged in commercial, profit-making activity. Others, such as UNH and St Anselm, seek to attract paying students to the “Survey Center” and “Institute of Politics” without alerting potential students to the blatant fraud in their operations. Money is at the root of what they do. Politics is big business in New Hampshire. It is also part of a massive nationwide political industry which services candidates and allows individuals to leverage profit-making opportunities from election cycle to election cycle.

2. When viewers/readers see or hear the term “poll” they are conditioned to believe that an independent, scientific survey has been made of all of the candidates in an election. In 2018, UNH “polled” on eleven (11) Democrats but only two (2) Republicans, with the explicit intent to exclude Plaintiff from UNH’s polls. In other words, the defendants’ polls, at UNH and St. Anselm, are falsely represented to be “polls” when they are not polls at all but rather actions curated to eliminate and erase Plaintiff’s candidacy from public awareness.

3. Prior to filing this lawsuit, Plaintiff gave St. Anselm an opportunity to avoid being named as a defendant by providing any exculpatory evidence. St. Anselm did not respond. The Court can and should draw an adverse inference from both the UNH and St. Anselm operations because of their refusals to comply with applicable law (UNH) or common sense (St. Anselm).

4. The defendants’ behavior is extremely deceptive and meets the “rascality” test of New Hampshire’s Consumer Protection Act. Public awareness of defendants’ actions, demeaning and seeking to destroy Plaintiff’s candidacy, would cause any reasonable person to believe that the defendants are bald-faced liars and phonies. The defendants’ behavior is therefore unlawful under the rascality test, ACAS v. Hobert,  155 N.H. 381, 923 A.2d 1076, 1094 (N.H. 2007). They are exactly what President Trump calls them, “fake news.”

V.

Demand for judgment

Plaintiff prays for the same relief as in Count One.

 

DATED: August 26, 2020

 

Respectfully submitted,

ANDY MARTIN, J.D.,

Adjunct Professor of Law

Pro Se

 

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