Sarah Palin and the New York Times have explored trying to settle the former Alaska governor and Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate’s closely watched defamation case against the newspaper, their lawyers said on Tuesday.
The disclosures came during a phone conference where U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan scheduled a retrial for April 14, 2025.
That followed a federal appeals court’s decision in August to throw out a February 2022 verdict in the Times’ favor, saying it was tainted by several of the judge’s rulings.
Palin, 60, sued the Times in 2017 over an editorial that incorrectly suggested she may have incited a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona where six people died and Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was seriously wounded.
The Times corrected the editorial quickly, but Palin said it damaged her reputation and should pay damages. James Bennet, the Times’ editorial page editor at the time, is also a defendant.
Lawyers for both sides had asked for a July 2025 retrial, to accommodate people’s schedules and allow more time to negotiate.
While neither side said talks are ongoing, the Times’ lawyer David Axelrod said a “non-trial disposition” of the case was possible, and “we may not need a trial date at all.”
Tagged:
Media
