Sheldon Adelson is suing the National Jewish Democratic Coalition (NJDC) for $60 million. He's suing for defamation: the NJDC wrote that he “reportedly approved of prostitution” in his Macau casino in China. They cited allegations by Adelson’s former Macau manager who was fired in 2010. But unlike the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which made similar claims but caved (and apologized) under Adelson’s threat to sue, the NJDC is standing firm:
The NJDC said in a statement Wednesday announcing the lawsuit that it would stand its ground… The statement called Adelson's lawsuit a "strategic lawsuit against public participation," or SLAPP, a term used for legal maneuvers aimed not at obtaining justice but silence.
On some level, we all know this lawsuit isn't about the money. $60 million is somewhere around one five-hundreth of what he's worth ($24.9 billion). It's about the politics. And this lawsuit, aside from being an alleged SLAPP, could distract us from Adelson’s really troubling misdeeds—his policy recommendations on Israel.
Adelson, we should recall, not only wants Romney to free Jonathan Pollard and move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv—both politically charged, but not unimaginable moves—but reportedly "considers a Palestinian state 'a steppingstone for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people,' and has called the Palestinian prime minister a terrorist" and the Palestinian people “invented.” There is much to deplore when it comes to Adelson’s views and actions even if he didn’t approve prostitution in his casino.
