Leach fires back

State senator sues Philadelphia newspaper, reporter for defamation

PHILADELPHIA >> State Sen. Daylin Leach has filed a defamation suit against the Philadelphia Inquirer and one of its reporters for allegedly colluding with a woman to make public false accusations of prior sexual misconduct in what he called a “smear campaign.”

“Clouded by the desire to drive Senator Leach from office by any means necessary, (reporter Angela) Cou- loumbis and the Inquirer exploited the trust of their readers by staging the release of knowingly false and defamatory stories under the guise of a ‘fair report’ and have gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal their own involvement therein in violation of the central tenets of ethical journalism,” according to the complaint filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Wednesday by attorney Joe Podraza Jr.

“The allegations are untrue,” said Couloumbis when contacted for comment Thursday.

Gabriel Escobar, editor and vice president of the Philadelphia Media Network, said the paper stands by its reporting and would not comment further on pending litigation.

Leach, D-17 of Lower Merion wo also represents portions of Delaware County, has been the frequent subject of unflattering news articles since December 2017, when some female campaign

workers alleged his behavior included “sexualized talk and improper touching.”

Leach withdrew from a Congressional race shortly thereafter, but has adamantly denied the allegations and continued to serve in the state Senate despite calls from fellow legislators and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to resign.

Then Cara Taylor circulated a private complaint in January 2019 amongst other senators and accused Leach of coercing her to perform oral sex on him in 1991, when she was 17 years old.

Leach filed a defamation suit that same month against Taylor and two other women – Gwen Snyder of Philadelphia and Colleen Kennedy of Havertown – in which he described Taylor as an “admitted liar and notorious perjurer,” who falsely testified at her mother’s trial that she, not her mother, had attempted to kill her stepfather. Taylor later pleaded guilty to charges of felony perjury and false swearing.

Leach was additionally the subject of an independent investigation performed by the firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC for the Senate Democratic Caucus concerning the 2017 allegations. The attorneys concluded in a recent report that Leach “engaged in joking and humor that was immature and unprofessional,” but “at no time did any such behavior actually create a hostile work environment” and nothing criminal had taken place.

Leach now claims Couloumbis and the Inquirer initially investigated Taylor’s claims in 2018, but the paper declined publishing her account due to the “physical and temporal impossibilities” of some of her allegations, as well as fears of exposure to defamation liability.

The complaint alleges Couloumbis thereafter conspired with Taylor to stage the circumstances in which the paper could maintain a “fair reporting” privilege by indirectly reporting on Taylor’s claims. This included prodding Taylor to seek an official pardon for her perjury conviction and urging her to circulate her private criminal complaint in the state Senate, according to the suit.

Leach additionally points to a May 2019 Inquirer article written by another reporter who is not a defendant in the suit that he says mischaracterized his initial defamation suit against Taylor, Snyder and Kennedy as a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation,” or “SLAPP” suit designed to silence detractors.

Leach claims the aim of that article was to influence the court into dismissing his claims as meritless and preclude further discovery that would expose the Inquirer’s alleged role in Taylor’s accusations. The judge overseeing the case denied preliminary objections filed by Snyder and Kennedy in July and the suit is still pending.

“Put simply, rather than reporting the news objectively, Couloumbis and the Inquirer helped stage the widespread dissemination of false information against Senator Leach to advance their own subjective biases, to increase the paper’s sales and profits and, later, to cover their tracks,” the complaint says.

Leach says he has suffered stress, anguish, embarrassment, and harm to his personal and professional reputation as a result. He is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $50,000.

Sen. Daylin Leach