But Russell had been active on the Keith Olbermann fan site up until TheDC reached out to him for comment. Soon afterward, he changed his username to “Lazarus” before seemingly removing his profile completely. According to the statistics compiled on his forum profile as of earlier this month, he had posted a total of over 9,000 messages to the forum, an average of nearly four per day since creating his username in February 2006.
“I have been a very frugal man, and do have the resources to sue you world class, and Mr. Tucker Carlson, who employs you,” Russell continued in his email to TheDC.
“I have studied the Texas Torts and all relevant Supreme Court decisions, and am confident I will prevail should ANY damage to me be done me. Fair warning, Ms. [Sic] Weinstein. Better send this along to Mr. Carlson, and get an attorney.”
When offered another opportunity to comment, Russell responded in an email that his “interest was not to participate in your attempts at defamation, it is to establish malice aforethought and to insure the linkage of the ‘deeper pockets’ of Tucker Carlson.”
“You are talking about some old blog posts from a forum I used to run years ago, taken down long ago, which you have not properly sourced and clearly do not mean what you think they mean,” he wrote.
“The malice is obvious, the libel obvious. I purchased keitholbermann.org in 2007, your employer purchased keitholbermann.com sometime later (we will get that during discovery) why the hit job on me? Personal business interest of the Daily Caller, not any journalistic purpose. Defamation, blackmail, libel. With malice aforethought. Against a private person who can collect monetary damages.”
Asked whether it was appropriate for an employee of the Army to offer jobs on a partisan website, an Army spokesman punted the question.
“The Army posts all job vacancies on the USAJOBS.GOV web site,” the spokesman wrote in an email to TheDC. “As a part of the robust, transparent hiring process, this website helps us hire only the best-qualified individuals to serve our Soldiers and our nation.”
The Army refused to comment on the criticisms of Army psychiatrists, saying that they “have not seen the posting[s].”
“The Army employs world-class behavioral health professionals to assist Soldiers, Civilians, and Army Families,” the spokesman said. “[T]hese professionals are essential to maintaining the health of the force.”
Asked whether it is appropriate for an Army doctor who presumably deals with patients of all political stripes to engage in hostile partisan rhetoric, the Army spokesman said, “We cannot comment on this allegation.”
“The Army healthcare system treats all beneficiaries equally,” he added.
