The suit was filed on 10/3/23, and the Binnall Law Group and attorney Jason Greaves represent Sabal. I know that Greaves is an amazing attorney because he represented me and Gen. Flynn (RET) in his lawsuit against the government. Sabal is suing for $25m.
The ADL accuses Sabal of being antisemitic, among several other terrible things, but he contends they are false. He is a disabled vet, supports Israel, and is a member of a pro-Israel church that teaches the Hebrew roots and origins of the bible. He also engages in philanthropy to help Jewish communities.
Even though the complaint states that Sabal doesn't have an anti-Semitic bone in his body, the ADL published that he is "known to peddle antisemitic beliefs" and said that he ascribes to the belief that Jews murder Christian children for ritualistic reasons. The problem for the ADL is that, as per him, he doesn't believe any of those things and he isn't antisemitic.
The ADL placed Sabal in their "Glossary of Extremism," naming him next to murderous Islamic terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and white supremacists like David Duke and Dylan Roof.
The glossary is part of the ADL's Center on Extremism, which monitors, exposes, and disrupts extremist threats. So, it's extremely troubling when the ADL names you to this glossary, which taints your reputation and potentially puts you and your family in danger.
But they didn't stop there. One of the ADL regional directors also implied he is a threat. He did so in a hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security. Remember, Sabal contends that none of the ADL's assertions about him are true.
We see this often. It has happened to me. Someone on the left, in an NGO or otherwise, decides you are an "extremist" because you are a threat to them ideologically or they disagree with you, and they set about trying to get you canceled, debanked, or worse. This is what they did to Sabal—they used a brush to paint his festivals as "QAnon" related, costing him a lot of money and his reputation. They also caused PayPal and others to deplatform him. Elon wanted to sue for a similar tactic.
He asked for a retraction, and the ADL doubled down, including him in a report entitled "Hate in the Lone Star State: Extremism & Antisemitism in TX." He is singled out by name in the report.
The issue? Again, NONE OF THIS IS TRUE.
PayPal sponsors the report, and Greaves points out here how dangerous it is for Sabal to be on this list—for no reason—because he planned well-attended Christian Conservative Events.
So, it goes like this for the ADL and other organizations. Name someone you don't like or disagree with a hateful extremist, even if it isn't true. Get all of the big companies to censor, debank, and destroy the individual based on your false accusations and send their names along to our weaponized DOJ. Rinse, repeat. You can read the complaint here. (NOTE: This complaint is a basic 12 pages long, the hallmark of a solid complaint. You don't need dozens and dozens of pages to outline the wrong.)
Of course, the ADL filed a motion to dismiss. Among many arguments, they argued that they couldn't be sued for these things because they were only stating their opinion of Sabal, not fact. They filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
I am not going to share *too* much of this, but the parts that really stuck out. This, for example-- basically says that the mere act of filing and winning a lawsuit against the ADL is antisemitic. Laugh with me.
"It doesn't matter if it is true—this is our opinion, and defamation law protects us from his allegations."
"Guys, he is politically involved! And he talks to people who follow QAnon!! THIS MUST BE STOPPED! If you "participate in controversies" (whatever that means), you are fair game."
Throughout these sections, the ADL attempts to portray Sabal as a public figure, making the bar for successful defamation harder to meet—they'd need to prove actual malice. I argue they probably could—but the fact is that Sabal would only be considered a public figure because of the ADL. Media about him centers around their doing. In other words, he is "famous" because of them. Whoops.
The judge ruled on this motion to dismiss and ruled that the case COULD MOVE FORWARD. Here, it is laid out—all they have to do is prove that Sabal has made antisemitic statements or he has not. Sabal—not someone at his conference, not his friend, Sabal himself. Uh-oh, ADL.
Uh oh, ADL…"The textual proximity of the blood libel theory appears to function as an example of one such antisemitic belief. A reasonable reader could conclude that ADL mentioned Sabal and the other three names to provide examples of people who espouse the specific antisemitic belief of blood libel."
The rest of the order goes on like this, and it's truly wonderful to read. I implore you to do so. I would highlight them here, but people have a short attention span, and they are numerous. You can read the order here.
I made a mistake on my podcast this morning—I had said that everything but the hearing in front of Congress was dismissed when it is the opposite. Everything but the hearing can continue. The hearing accusations in the complaint are dismissed—the website, etc., are all fair game.
Why is this a big deal? For YEARS, the ADL has been defaming honest, hardworking people. Ironically, the ADL is defamatory a lot of the time. They do not care who they seek to ruin, but IN MY OPINION, they are out to do as much damage as they can to people who are not extreme leftists. Many people in the general public don't know this about the ADL, so they can wield a very powerful cudgel and ruin people's lives. I have sent attorney correspondence to the ADL, as have many of you. Not only are they dangerous regarding your social footprint and ability to make a living, but they also work with law enforcement!
So, the ADL can wantonly name someone to their database and raise a red flag with our DOJ/FBI/etc. And have them on that watchlist, too—when what they accuse you of is not even true.
This is a BIG DEAL for all of us. If he is successful in this suit, it will directly impact every one of us, and I, for one, am grateful that he brought this suit and picked such an awesome legal team. It really is cut and dry here—either John Sabal said these things, or he didn't. And he didn't.
A fundraiser is set up to help with mounting legal bills, and you may want to consider donating.
