Adelson’s Widow Must Face Newspaper Antitrust Suit, Rules Judge

The widow of billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the late casino magnate, media mogul, and GOP mega-donor, should face antitrust claims for treble damages over his alleged scheme to drive a rival Las Vegas newspaper out of business, despite his death in January.

Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach recommended granting a motion by the rival paper, the Las Vegas Sun, to substitute Miriam Adelson, administrator of her husband’s estate, as a defendant in the US District Court for the District of Nevada.

The protracted battle dates back to July 2012 when the council distributed an online petition based on reporting that Adelson allowed prostitution in his Macau casinos.

“If one of your biggest donors was accused of putting ‘foreign money’ from China in our elections & reportedly approved of prostitution, would you take his money?” the petition asked.

Adelson vehemently denied what he called a “blatant and reprehensible attack,” taking the matter to federal court a year later. The defamation claims swirled from New York’s district and appellate courts for years before migrating to the Supreme Court of Nevada to address a then-unanswered question.

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