Ashcroft, No Sellout

Unclear if Vasquez would continue Hall's annual Hunger Banquet, where some diplomats dined on water and rice, some on rice and beans and a select few had a fine meal, reflecting the proportion of those who eat well and those who don't.

Was It Inevitable? Klayman Sues Judicial Watch

Tenacious lawyer and recently unsuccessful senatorial candidate Larry Klayman is suing the organization he founded and chaired, Judicial Watch, and its president, Thomas Fitton , for a range of alleged misdeeds, including defamation and failing to comply with a severance agreement.

In the suit, filed in federal court here last week, Klayman, now practicing law in Florida, said Judicial Watch had been "threatening the media" so it would "no longer refer to" him as the organization's former founder and chairman, which would result in the media's no longer calling on him "to comment on political and legal affairs."

Klayman rose to fame as a watchdog for his suits against the Clinton administration; ethics complaints against others, including former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.); and another action to open the deliberations of Vice President Cheney 's Energy Task Force.

Co-plaintiff Louise Benson of California alleges she pledged $50,000 to Judicial Watch as part of a fundraising campaign to buy a headquarters building, giving $15,000 up front in exchange for "naming rights" and a plaque.

But while $1.4 million was raised, no effort was ever made to buy the building, the suit alleges.

Benson is asking for at least $75,000 and for punitive damages. Klayman is seeking several million dollars in damages.

Judicial Watch, in its IRS filings, has said that Klayman, while head of Judicial Watch, also ran his own law firm and the two businesses "shared certain employees and . . . expenses, such as rent, telephone . . . etc." Judicial Watch said Klayman has not reimbursed it for those expenses.

Klayman, in the suit, says that the statements are false and that their posting on the Judicial Watch Web site violated the severance agreement.

Fitton declined to respond to "specific allegations," but said, "generally, it's a ridiculous lawsuit full of lies and distortions, which Judicial Watch will address vigorously in court. It's a tactical maneuver to distract attention from the fact that he owes us more than a quarter-million dollars. It's a smear job."

Klayman has demanded a jury trial. Should be a fun show.