The Nation

A federal judge in Alexandria, Va., has upheld a jury’s verdict that Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. interfered with news gathering efforts of NBC News but reduced the judgment against LaRouche from $3 million to $200,000. LaRouche had sued NBC for libel for two broadcasts in which the former independent presidential candidate was described as the head of a “political cult” that harasses its critics. A federal court jury decided that LaRouche was not libeled. Ruling on a countersuit by NBC, the jury found that LaRouche’s group tried to sabotage a network interview with Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), and that was the basis of the judgment against LaRouche.