I have been informed that I must take down a blog post, this one. Apparently, Answers in Genesis does not own a whole jet, they lease 25% of one, and how dare I quote an investor site that says “The Cayman Islands are considered a tax haven” or that AiG has been grasping at tax breaks.
RE: False and Defamatory Statements
Dear Dr. Myers:
We represent Answers in Genesis, Inc. (“AiG”). We are writing to demand you and your blog, FreeThoughtBlogs, cease and desist further publication of your article Why are creationists so pasty pale at Answers in Genesis? posted at https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/ 2024/10/17/why-are-creationists-so-pasty-pale-at-answers-in-genesis/ with a October 17, 2024 publication date (the “Article”). The Article contains several false statements and distortions of fact intended to defame our client.
The Article begins with the following statement: “AiG owns a private jet,” which is false. AiG has a lease for the fractional use of a private jet. In other words, AiG does not own a jet. It owns a percentage of an aircraft’s flight hours each year, approximately 25% of the allocated usage. The ministry has no oversight or involvement regarding the other 75% of use. The reasoning for the fractional use of a private plane is not about luxury but practicality, allowing the ministry to reach more people over a shorter period of time.
With that being said, it could very well be true that this jet “frequently darts down to the Cayman Islands for one-day visits.” However, that does not mean that those trips are taken by AiG. In fact, they are not. No AiG personnel have used the jet (or any other aircraft) for trips to the Cayman Islands.
Of particular concern are the following false statements on your blog:
“What are they doing down there? Why do they frequently fly there and then come straight back?” followed by “Wild guess: The Cayman Islands are considered a tax haven
… making it an ideal place for multinational corporations to base subsidiary entities to shield some or all of their incomes from taxation.”
“AiG has been working so hard to get all kinds of tax breaks here in America, why would they need to evade taxes even more than that?”
These veiled claims have no basis in fact.As you know and intended, when such allegations are directed towards a nonprofit ministry, they discredit and impeach the ministry. The intended implication in your false statements is not only that AiG aims to profit from its mission and that it violates laws for purposes of enriching itself, but it also partakes in additional illicit activity. Since there is no basis in fact, your blog’s publication of the Article (and your authorship of it) constitutes the tort of defamation. Under the laws of Kentucky, where the damage of your misconduct was directed and felt, your malicious defamation exposes you personally to liability, to include for punitive damages.To our knowledge, you made no effort to contact AiG to verify or corroborate the story’s allegations. It further appears that no effort was made to independently verify the allegations via publicly available sources. Even a minimal effort in that regard would have revealed the falsity of these allegations. Indeed, had you bothered to look at the aircraft registration of the plane, which can conveniently be found on the same website your Article links to, you would have discovered that AiG does not in fact own the plane.
You and your blog acted with actual malice in that you knew your statements were false or, at best, you acted in reckless disregard to the veracity of the statements. This is not the first time you have been reckless in your allegations regarding the ministry. The insinuations your “expose” propagates are presented as truths, when in fact they are lies. Your statements have been circulated to the public, to include the media, which increases the scope and corresponding liability for your misconduct.
Implications that AiG has engaged in illegal or criminal activity is unacceptable, as are the enumerated claims above. Your statements damage AiG’s reputation and were done with intent to cause harm, i.e. maliciously. Your followers have circulated your false claims, including to the media.
We demand that you immediately and permanently remove the Article and release a statement retracting the article and enumerated claims above. Please confirm that you have done so within five days of the date of this letter.
In the meanwhile, since you are on notice of legal claims made against you, you have a duty to preserve all communications and documents concerning the Article, to include all communications and investigations relevant to the same. All electronic records, to include all forms of electronic communications, should be preserved. This demand is not a waiver of any other claims my clients may have against you. Do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or desire to discuss this matter.
OK, I’ll admit that they have a solid alibi, and I am removing the post.
I am not at all surprised that Ken Ham is extremely touchy about their money, but have never sicced a lawyer on me for all my posts refuting their creationist bullshit.
I get you taking down the post, but still, this letter is a laughable reach. I love how they declare you “acted with actual malice” – a bar that is famously high and difficult to clear in defamation cases, and that’s when they actually have evidence that a defendant knew they were lying, and which certainly wouldn’t apply to a blogger publishing an opinion post in reaction to something he read online, even if mistakenly. I know it’s a threat letter, so that kind of posturing is expected, but it still makes them look like thuggish twits.
Also telling how Ham & co. instantly gave their lawyers’ leash a tug rather than just counter your post on their blog, as they’ve done in the past. Touchy about money, indeed.
That just makes one more mystery.
Who owns the other 75% of the jet’s hours?
Who is flying that jet to the Cayman Islands on frequent one day trips?
I bet Homeland Security, the FBI, and the IRS would like to know the answer to those questions.
Maybe I’ll give them a call and see if they are aware of this jet and its suspicious flight path.
You’ve should’ve never have caved in. You should’ve told them “screw you” and keep the post up in direct defiance. That’s what I would’ve done. Besides if they’re that touchy about who owns the plane, they should’ve went after Dan Phelps who was the one who first brought the plane up months back.
25% AiG, 75% Ken Ham. Dollars to donuts
AiG are cowards who will go all the way to move Heaven and Earth to block anyone from expose their corruption. Seriously! They are as worse as DonOld and his MAGA clowns who do the exact same thing Dumb Idiot Ken Ham does to prevent anyone from knowing just how corrupt they really are!!
#1.
I totally agree with what you’ve said. AiG accusing PZ of acting “with actual malice” while engaging in actual malice themselves reeks hypocrisy in the 3rd degree.
This is a huff and puff letter.
They are trying to scare PZ.
Their threat isn’t much better.
A SLAPP suit, Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation.
These have to be filed in Federal court because PZ isn’t in Kentucky. Loser pays court costs.
SLAPP suits are hard to win.
AIG and their lawyers sure are touchy about their 25% private jet.
Which could mean they’ve got something to hide here.
What does AIG use that plane for?
Does the Ham family use it as their own personal vehicle for vacations and gambling trips or whatever they do for fun?
If they use it for personal use, is that legal?
I don’t know the answers here at all. I’m Just Asking Questions. Maybe AIG and their lawyers want to explain it to us. This is a public forum, they can post it on this thread.
I thought about a little defiance, but seriously — this is not the subject I want to battle that gang of frauds over.
“We demand that you immediately and permanently remove the Article and release a statement retracting the article and enumerated claims above.”
Owosso Harpist, those are two different demands.
So you’re a bit premature in your judgement, as I see it.
—
Still, once bitten, twice shy and all that. Lawyers ain’t cheap. Not much fun.
Yeah, totally understandable. Everyone thinks being defiant in the face of a lawsuit is great, right up until they actually get sued and have to put their entire life on pause and spend tens of thousands of dollars to defend themselves. And that’s if they win.
PZ: you did admit your claim about AiG sending cash to the Caymans was a “wild guess” (your words). Also, even if your “wild guess” is proven false, you still haven’t shown reckless disregard for the truth. They’ve admitted they use the jet, and that the jet has gone to the Caymans for one-day trips — so it is still possible that it’s AiG people flying it there.
(Also, can they prove their claim that their “ministry” is “non-profit?” Or that they actually use that jet for “ministry” purposes?)
Seems reasonable.
At the least, you really want to have what you write be factual.
Correcting errors is something we all do from time to time.
Except if you are AIG. Creationism is a lie and most of what they claim about science is also a lie.
As you know and intended, when such allegations are directed towards a nonprofit ministry, they discredit and impeach the ministry.
But not if they’re directed towards a for-profit ministry?
Also, if AiG can show that they’ve actually been discredited, that would be good to know, so decent people can discredit them some more.
I thought about a little defiance, but seriously — this is not the subject I want to battle that gang of frauds over.
Damn, I thought all you woke college professors were part of a rich librul elite conspiracy to destroy Christianity!
Seriously, though, you probably made the right choice all in all. You’re still able to write about AiG’s disgraceful bogosity, and now they’ve admitted they read your blog!
Understood, PZ.
And yet AiG shamelessly do the exact same thing they accuse PZ of themselves by going out and harassing prominent scientists and pastors who refuses to conform to their young earth ideology in an effort to weed out corruption within them, only to throw a huge, massive tantrum when they end up getting targeted by those who rightfully exposes their corruption.
Best example of AiG hypocrisy – dishing it out against their perceived enemies, but like bullies they are, they just can’t take it when the same thing gets ricochet right back at them!
I don’t blame you. As I recall FtB has been sued before and it was a massive pain in the ass, even if you win. Not worth it, and they know it.
Of course they refute the claim of jet trips to the Cayman Islands. If they persist in the bullying tactics a request for the flight manifests and passenger lists of the jet might send them packing.
PZ, Your article is not lost. I found it in archive.today website via webpage capture.
http://archive.today/UMcNq
I could’ve posted the link from archive.org, the site was having problems with DDOS attack that they’ve suffered many days back and they’re trying to fix it right now. So I got the webpage capture from archive.today, instead.