BOISE, Idaho — A saga playing out online, and in the courtroom, has come to a close after multiple years of litigation over two opposing defamation lawsuits.
Former Idaho Rep. Chad Christensen (R-Iona) failed in his defamation case against political activist and consultant Greg Graf; Christensen filed the lawsuit in 2021. Graf filed a counterclaim roughly a year later; Graf withdrew his defamation counterclaim after the judge deemed him a "limited public figure" increasing the threshold to prove defamation.
Both lawsuits date back to a phone call between Graf and Christensen's boss - EmmaLee Robinson - in October of 2020. Graf alleged Christensen was involved in a variety of criminal behavior. Robinson recorded the phone call with Christensen's help, according to Graf.
Christensen shared that recording with online conservative writer and Idaho Second Amendment Alliance Founder Greg Pruett. Pruett proceeded to publish details of the recording online with the help of former Idaho Freedom Foundation Vice President Dustin Hurst, according to the court opinion.
Political rivals, Graf and Hurst, have exchanged verbal jabs on X - the app formally known as Twitter - throughout the litigation process. Upon Graf dropping the counterclaim, Hurst quickly posted online to label it a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) lawsuit.
"Idaho is Increasingly part of a minority of states that don't have some statutory mechanism by which people can protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits that are clearly SLAPP," Boise State University Media Professor Dr. Rick Moore said. "What we're doing here is trying to create legal mechanisms to deal with human problems. And certainly, there are people who libel other individuals. But certainly, there are also individuals who do not want things said about them when they're again involved in the rough and tumble of politics and will file a suit simply as a way to get other people to shut up. The anti-SLAPP mechanism is supposed to prevent the latter."
Ironically, both Graf and Hurst welcome the proposal of anti-SLAPP legislation in Idaho. In a general sense, anti-SLAPP laws allow for quick dismissal of lawsuits that don't hold ground, according to Dr. Moore. Depending on the state, monetary damages are often awarded to the unjustly sued party.
"If we had anti slap logic legislation, I would utilize that - probably - instead of filing a counterclaim the way I did. That would have been the strategy, and I believe I would have prevailed because of summary judgment," Graf said. "The whole point, in my opinion, was to cause harm and to silence me."
While Hurst had little to say about Christensen's initial lawsuit, he believes anti-SLAPP laws would benefit Idaho statewide and its political discourse. Hurst also believes Graf's counterclaim was a SLAPP lawsuit too.
"If we can extract lessons from this and improve public policy so bullies who want to use the legal system to silence their foes can't do this. That's a huge win for all of us," Hurst said. "I think somebody needs to say the things that a lot of people are thinking, and [Graf's counterclaim] was just a huge waste of time. It was all over mean tweets. Don't like my mean tweets? Okay, tweet something mean back at me or explain why my tweets are terrible. Don't sue people over speech you don't like. It's just a bad practice."
Idaho Sen. Brian Lenney (R-Nampa) is drafting anti-SLAPP legislation. He plans to pitch the proposed law in the upcoming legislative session at the start of next calendar year.
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