When the Washington Redskins decided to go ahead and sue the Washington City Paper over a cover story by Dave McKenna that the team alleges contains false statements about owner Dan Snyder, they actually ended up suggesting to the paper that it would not be financially "rational" for it to go the litigation route. The Washington City Paper vowed to defend itself "vigorously" regardless, and now, they are asking for help to pay for legal costs.
The paper has opened a legal defense fund where readers can donate money to "support our right-and anyone's right-to write the truth about him, or any powerful public figure, even if it's not flattering." The money will be used to pay the legal costs, and any extra money will be donated to charity. The paper stressed that readers should not donate what they cannot afford, but are offering readers the chance to directly stand against Snyder's lawsuits.
To contribute, send a PayPal contribution to legaldefense@washingtoncitypaper.com, or send a check made out to "Washington City Paper Legal Defense Fund" toWashington City Paper, 2390 Champlain St. NW, Washington, DC 20009. You can also drop us a note at that address to show your support.
Snyder objected to the November 18 story because it suggested he forged signatures, cut down trees on federal land, doodled devil horns on his face in the cover art and supposedly mocked his wife's fight against breast cancer. However, a TBD search and an article by Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post shows that McKenna's story mentioned nothing about Tania Snyder's breast cancer.