Gallinger Claims Measure H Article was “False and Libelous”
By Stephen C. Smith
Irvine Tattler Publisher
Posted May 27, 2008
The Irvine Tattler yesterday published a story reporting that
a new pro-Measure H committee may have been used to launder money from an Orange County Democratic Party fund to pay for mailers
falsely accusing councilwoman Christina Shea of being a lobbyist.
This e-mail was received today from Todd Gallinger, the attorney who was named on filing papers as the treasurer for the committee:
Dear Mr. Smith:
In an article published yesterday the 26th on your website, you state that in the Yes on Measure H committee that I am the
treasurer of gave money to a mail house in order to publish a letter from Mayor Beth Krom. This is a false and libelous
statement. Any payments made to a print house were for committee purposes and I was wholly unaware of Mayor Krom’s use
of the same print house until it was published on the Irvine Tattler. This is clearly a defamatory per se statement as you
have accused me, by name, of committing a crime with absolutely no basis. Now that the this matter has been clarified, I
am confident that you will do the right thing and remove the false accusations from your website. In the future, if you
have any questions about activities you believe I am involved in, my contact info is below. Please feel free to contact
me anytime so we can avoid future confusions.
Regards,
Todd Gallinger
Two Park Plaza Phone: (949) 862-0010
Suite 760 Fax: (949) 861-6582
Irvine, CA 92614 URL: www.gallingerlaw.com
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Please feel free to Click Here to read the article and decide for yourself.
I will raise these points:
- Mr. Gallinger claims I wrote that he “gave money to a mail house in order to publish a letter from Mayor Beth Krom.”
This is not what I wrote. What I did write was that he took $3,800 from the Orange County Victory Fund, a fund created by
Orange County Young Democrats, and paid it to the printer Mayor Beth Krom used for her mailing. On the same day.
Later in the article, I wrote that the Krom letter was “apparently funded in part by money from a Democratic Party fund.”
I would suggest that Mr. Gallinger look up the definition of “apparently” in a dictionary. In any case,
it says the Democratic Party fund, not Mr. Gallinger.
- Mr. Gallinger says, “Any payments made to a print house were for committee purposes and I was wholly unaware of
Mayor Krom's use of the same print house until it was published on the Irvine Tattler.” So
Mr. Gallinger would have us believe that, out of all the printing and copying businesses in the Irvine Business Center and
South Coast Metro area, he just happened to open a pro-Measure H committee and pay for campaign literature at the same
print house on the same day as Mayor Krom, who has described herself as the leader of Measure H and who wrote the ballot
statement supporting Measure H.
It is also curious that he happened to select Kenny the Printer, used by
Mayor Krom, and Councilmen Larry Agran and Sukhee Kang, to circumvent Irvine campaign finance laws and send out mailers
promoting their candidates while attacking their opponents. Mr. Gallinger happened to select a business that has periodically leased office space over the years
to Mr. Agran.
Still, if Mr. Gallinger is willing to provide me with a copy of his unspecified campaign literature
paid for on the same day as Mayor Krom's, I will post it here for all to see.
- Mr. Gallinger writes, “This is clearly a defamatory per se statement as you have accused me, by name,
of committing a crime with absolutely no basis.” Anyone who reads the article can see I never said any such thing.
- Mr. Gallinger says nothing about the portion of the article reporting his ties to allegedly radical groups. I presume that,
if this information had been “false and libelous,” he would have corrected the record.
I reserve the right to post any future e-mails received from Mr. Gallinger.
UPDATE May 31, 2008 — The below e-mail was sent to me the evening of May 30. It is posted here without comment.
Mr. Smith:
As an attorney, I’m required to use discretion when it comes to client matters. As a result, I make it a policy to not talk about
who I do or don’t represent unless I have that person’s permission. Thankfully in this case, I can address all issues raised as
they involved public initiatives and I have permission to speak publicly, though solely in a personal capacity.
Regarding the Islamic organizations you mention, I’ve represented The Council on American Islamic Relations California (CAIR-CA) in
two class action lawsuits, filed together with the ACLU, addressing long term systematic delays in the processing of citizenship
applications. I’ve volunteered with CAIR-CA for many years and consult with them often in connection with other community activities
I’m involved in. I know all the people involved in the Anaheim office quite well, and am proud to consider them friends.
The other groups you mentioned, IIRO, MWL, and WAMY, are all foreign based Islamic charities and NGOs. They are members of a
Washington, D.C. based trade association called Friends of Charities Association (FOCA). When attending George Washington Law
School in D.C. I worked with FOCA on developing a system of best practices to strengthen financial controls for these and other
nonprofits. I am also proud of the work I did with FOCA, and like to think it might help protect our national security.
I believe that your choice to bring up my work with these organizations when attacking me for my involvement in the Yes on
Measure H campaign is evidence of a biased and bigoted person. There is no reasonable connection, but because the groups were
Muslim, you chose to try and smear me for that past work. You had absolutely no knowledge of the work I did, but assumed that
because it was linked to Muslims that it must be bad. This is the exact same tactic adopted the right-wing attack machine in
trying to smear Obama by calling him Muslim.
As for your equally offensive claims about the Yes on Measure H Committee, I can see that you attempt to hide behind your words
and create confusion, probably because the truth would not look good for the Shea-Choi machine you shill for. You accusations
are so convoluted they are near insensible, but what I’ve been able to figure out is simply wrong.
To my knowledge, we have never met. But you make presumptions about my character and imply that I am untruthful when I tell you
I have no knowledge of the Mayor’s use of as the same vendor as Yes on Measure H Irvine. The truth is I do not know the Mayor’s
treasurer, or when or how she cuts checks; I did not see the Mayor’s mailer until it came out nor know which printer she used.
Because I know this be true, I must conclude that your accusations of improper behavior can only be based on internal knowledge
of the Shea-Choi right-wing political machine and the tricks and tactics it uses.
For example, I note that throughout your website you have failed to mention Shea and Choi’s support of Measure H. You have also
not discussed “Irvine Citizens for Ethics in Government, Yes on H” and their TV commercials featuring Christina Shea and
Steven Choi. An “independent” group raising tens of thousands of dollars in developer’s money to promote the “ethics”
of Shea and Choi but you don’t say anything? Your selectivity shows your intention is to smear anyone who threatens
their grip on power and obscure rather than reveal truths.
I assume that you have by now received the Yes on Measure H Irvine mailer, but I see that you have not posted it as
you said you would. If you don’t have access to a scanner, let me know and I’ll send over a PDF. But maybe your words
were just hollow and you don’t want your readers to see what a real newspaper, the OC Register and not the fake Irvine
Chronicle or Tattler, concluded after investigating the original ethics provision, that it “could be trouble for Councilwoman
Christina Shea, who is a lobbyist.” Note how the conclusion of how an independent publication, reached by following journalistic
ethics, differs from your own.
As you saw it fit to publish my last email (intended to be private and friendly), I request that you also post this one
in its entirety on your website, unless you are too afraid to do so.
Very truly yours,
Todd Gallinger
Two Park Plaza Phone: (949) 862-0010
Suite 760 Fax: (949) 861-6582
Irvine, CA 92614 URL: www.gallingerlaw.com
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PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this message is only for the intended recipient and may be private and confidential. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender or call (949) 862-0010.
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PREVIOUS ARTICLES:
Krom's Lobbyist Connections
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"Preparation for 'H' Begins"
"Krom's Rebuttal: 'Defame, Distort and Distract'"
"Krom Defends Measure H Ballot Statement"
"Krom's Unethical Ethics Letter"
"Democratic Fund Injects Money into Measure H Special Election"
