CLEVELAND, Ohio — Former Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich filed suit against the publisher of cleveland.com and related entities, the top editor and two reporters, claiming they sought to tarnish last year’s failed bid to again reach the city’s highest office by publishing false information.
Kucinich’s suit, filed Tuesday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, claims that content – including the cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer Editorial Board writing that “whatever you do, don’t vote for Dennis Kucinich” – showed that the reporters and organizations had it out for him.
The former mayor, who served from 1977 to 1979, and eight-term congressman lost in a primary in September and voters ultimately elected Justin Bibb.
The suit, filed by attorney Aaron Minc of Orange, brings claims of libel, slander and portraying the former mayor in a false light. He seeks at least $25,000 in damages.
It names Advance Ohio, which operates cleveland.com, as a defendant, as well as Editor Chris Quinn and reporters John Caniglia and Seth A. Richardson. Also named is Advance Ohio sister company Plain Dealer Publishing Co., which prints The Plain Dealer newspaper and includes content from cleveland.com.
His claims center on stories and a podcast episode put out in the months before and after he announced his candidacy. According to the suit, cleveland.com knew the statements were false when it published them, regardless of any later corrections.
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