By Adam Pagnucco.
After our post on Frederick County Council Member Kirby Delauter’s views on the Civil War, Delauter reached out to your author on Facebook and requested an interview. Your author agreed, but when I stipulated that the interview be on the record, Delauter balked.
Below is the exchange with Delauter on the Western Maryland Politics Facebook page.
We have often gone off the record with sources in the past. But Delauter is different. He is the only local elected official we know of who has threatened to sue a news publication for “unauthorized” use of his name. We remind Delauter (and any like-minded politicians) that truth is an absolute defense to libel and defamation lawsuits, and that includes citing public statements made by public figures. Accordingly, while we are happy to communicate with Delauter, we will only do it on the record because of his history of threatening litigation.
One more thing. While Delauter may have been mocked by some for his threat against the Frederick News-Post, we take him very seriously. He has enthusiastic supporters, is an able fundraiser and represents a red district that is a good base for a GOP candidate running county-wide. Delauter may very well be Frederick County’s next Executive.