Newspaper Sued for $1 Million by Dannemeyer

SACRAMENTO — Rep. William Dannemeyer, chief backer of an AIDS-reporting initiative, has filed a $1-million libel suit against a San Francisco newspaper.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Superior Court, concerns a memo the Bay Area Reporter reprinted in part that says the Orange County congressman is unsympathetic to people with AIDS.

The lawsuit also names Republican political consultant Charles Rund and Rund’s company, Charleton Research Group of San Francisco.

Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) is the chief backer of Proposition 102 on the November ballot. It would require doctors, blood banks and others to report to public health officials any people they believe have been exposed to AIDS or tested positive for the AIDS virus.

The newspaper on Oct. 8 reprinted part of a memo dated Sept. 17 that apparently referred to a meeting on Proposition 102 in the office of state Sen. John Doolittle (R-Rocklin) and described Dannemeyer’s conduct at the meeting. It called Dannemeyer “a live grenade” on the issue of AIDS.

The memo was signed with the initials C.R. Charles Rund told The Sacramento Union that he was not the author and said he did not attend the meeting in Doolittle’s office.

“We investigated this and nothing indicated anyone from our office did this. I thought we had totally satisfied the congressman on that,” Rund said.

Bob Ross, publisher of the Bay Area Reporter, declined to comment on the lawsuit.