EXCLUSIVE: American Airlines' shocking response to nine-year-old girl who was filmed in lavatory by flight attendant

• Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, is accused of filming girls aboard AA flights

American Airlines has been accused of blaming two underaged girls for being filmed in the plane's bathrooms by a male flight attendant.

Estes Carter Thompson III, 37, was arrested in January after he allegedly recorded four underaged girls - aged 7, 9, 11 and 14- as they used the bathroom aboard several AA flights.

In their response to a lawsuit filed by the nine-year-old's family, American Airlines put forward several defenses, including that they are not responsible because of 'the doctrine of comparative negligence, contributory negligence, comparative responsibility and/or comparative causation.'

AA's legal defense continues: 'Defendant would show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.'

Explaining the defense in plain English, the plaintiff's lawyer Caroline Recupero said: 'In other words, American Airlines is blaming a 9-year-old-girl for being filmed by an American Airlines flight attendant, arguing the child knew or should have known that the airplane toilet contained a recording device.'

'It is our firm’s position that this assertion is both shameful and absolutely outrageous.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13443875/American-Airliness-shocking-response-nine-year-old-girl-filmed-lavatory-flight-attendant.html

Voting machine firm Smartmatic alleges Newsmax has deleted evidence in lawsuit over false vote-rigging claims

Smartmatic is suing Fox News, Newsmax, Rudy Giuliani and others over false claims of vote-rigging and fraud in the 2020 election.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna153231

Smartmatic alleges that Newsmax has destroyed evidence in the voting machine company's lawsuit against the right-wing news channel over false claims that Smartmatic helped “rig" the 2020 election, according to court documents made public this week.

Lawyers for Florida-based Smartmatic allege that Newsmax engaged in a “cover-up” by destroying texts and emails of key executives that would demonstrate the network’s knowledge that voting fraud claims being pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies were untrue. Smartmatic says the deletions occurred after Newsmax had received notice to preserve evidence for the pending suit.

The lawsuit is just one of many major defamation cases filed by Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems against news organizations over false claims about fraud in 2020 election. Most are still pending, and several may go to trial this fall — ensuring that Trump’s claims about a “rigged election” in 2020 will continue to be a focus even as the next presidential election nears.

The potential payments in damages to the plaintiffs are substantial. In 2023, just moments before opening statements in a Delaware courtroom, Fox News paid the voting machine company Dominion a settlement of $787.5 million over similar false claims it made on air.

Smartmatic is suing Newsmax for defamation in Delaware Superior Court, the same court that handled the Fox Dominion case, for unspecified damages. It has alleged the company promoted claims it knew to be false because it attracted viewers and was therefore profitable. Newsmax denies the allegations. The case is scheduled to go to trial in September.

The new filing refers to specific text messages in which Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy referred to Trump’s attorney Sidney Powell, which Smartmatic says were deleted from Ruddy's devices but saved by other witnesses and provided to the plaintiffs during discovery. Powell was a Newsmax guest and a source of false allegations about voting fraud by Smartmatic and other companies. The filing also alleges that the company lied under oath about the existence of its own journalistic guidelines.

In a statement to NBC News, Smartmatic attorney J. Erik Connolly said: “Newsmax’s misconduct goes beyond falsely accusing Smartmatic of rigging the U.S. election; it also attempted to conceal evidence of its actions and failed to follow its own journalistic standards. Smartmatic’s motion details numerous instances of evidence destruction, including incriminating emails and texts from Newsmax executives, indicating intentional spoliation.”

A spokesperson for Newsmax did not respond to requests for comment.

Smartmatic is also suing Fox News over similar claims for $2.7 billion in damages. That trial is expected to start in early 2025. Fox has denied the allegations.

In April, Smartmatic settled a suit against OANN, another right-wing news channel that allowed false election fraud claims on its air. Dominion still has suits pending against OANN and Newsmax, and both companies have filed suit against Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell.

Hong Kong 'spy' dies in 'unexplained circumstances' as his body is found in park

Matthew Trickett was found in Maidenhead, and despite attempts to save him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1901964/china-hong-kong-spy-unexplained-circumstances-death

A former Royal Marine charged with spying for the Hong Kong intelligence service has died in "unexplained circumstances", according to police.

Officers from Thames Valley Police were called to Grenfell Park in Maidenhead by a member of the public, where despite attempts from medics, Matthew Trickett, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Trickett has been alleged to have agreed to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception that were likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "An investigation is ongoing into the death, which is currently being treated as unexplained.

Google offers DoJ cash to eliminate jury in web ad monopoly abuse trial

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/ar-BB1mNHEI

Facing an antitrust jury trial over claims it monopolizes online advertising, Google has chosen to do the most logical thing it can think of to avoid the case being heard by a jury: It's cut a check to the US Justice Department to get prosecutors to strike their damages claim.

According to a federal court filing [PDF] in Virginia last week, Google said it has offered the DoJ a check for an unspecified sum that covers "the full monetary damages it seeks."

By doing so, Google said it has solved the DoJ's claims for damages, and thus Uncle Sam's reason for asking for a jury trial.

"DOJ manufactured a damages claim at the last minute in an attempt to secure a jury trial in a case even they describe as 'highly technical' and 'outside the everyday knowledge of most prospective jurors,'" Google told The Register in a statement. "That's why the law warrants a judicial review of the evidence in this case."

Far from being a settlement offer, Google continues to assert its innocence against charges it abuses a monopoly position in the online advertising market, claiming it looks forward to defending its operations and strategies in court - just not before a jury.

Google's advertising monopoly case - one of multiple antitrust cases against the web giant - was filed in early 2023, and within months the list of state plaintiffs grew to 17, not including the DoJ itself. The original complaint accused Google of acquiring competitors, forcing publishers and advertisers into using its tools, and manipulating ad space auctions, all to "eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies," the DoJ alleged.

It's not clear how much Google has offered to the DoJ, but the Chocolate Factory did assert in its court filing that the DoJ's damages case "has fallen well short of its original description." According to Google, the DoJ originally claimed damages in excess of $100 million for ads placed by "certain federal agencies."

Despite those $100M claims, Google said discovery has gradually eroded the amount. While it doesn't claim such directly in its filing (at least not in unredacted portions), a Google spokesperson told us that the DoJ's claim for damages has been reduced to less than a million dollars, equating to less than the cloud titan spent to hire experts in the case, Google claims.

The Justice Department, which we've invited to comment for this story, will have the chance to refute Google's claims on June 21 at the next hearing date for the case. If Google's attempt to buy its way out is unsuccessful, it's set to go to trial in September.

Google is also facing an antitrust suit involving its alleged monopolization of online search, for which arguments recently concluded in a Washington, DC court.

There's no jury in the search monopoly case, and Google did lose an antitrust case before a jury late last year when a group of Google peers determined the Play Store maintained an illegal monopoly by requiring developers to pay fees to use third-party payment services.