Anthony Scaramucci, who had a brief, stormy tenure as spokesman for President Trump, has threatened to sue a Tufts University student and the school newspaper for publishing op-ed columns criticizing him — unless they retract the “defamatory statements” and apologize.
Tufts has postponed a Monday event that was supposed to feature Scaramucci, who is a Tufts alumnus and a member of the advisory board of the university’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Student Camilo A. Caballero wrote a Nov. 6 op-ed calling for Scaramucci to be removed from the school’s board, saying school officials should stand with petitioners who had called for his removal. He followed up with a Nov. 13 op-ed criticizing the school administration for not taking action on Scaramucci.
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Here’s what Scaramucci objected to:
“A man who is irresponsible, inconsistent, an unethical opportunist and who exuded the highest degree of disreputability should not be on the Fletcher Board. The Board of Advisors plays a critical role in building the spirit of our school and also, in more practical terms, board members define and oversee our school’s operations.”
In their demand letter, Scaramucci’s attorneys objected to the passage “a man who is irresponsible, inconsistent, an unethical opportunist and who exuded the highest degree of disreputability,” italicizing a key phrase.
In the same piece, Caballero wrote:
“This is Anthony Scaramucci, a man who began his infamously short career as the White House communications director by uttering profanity-laced comments on national news outlets, the man who sold his soul in contradiction to his own purported beliefs for a seat in that White House and a man who makes his Twitter accessible to friends interested in giving comfort to Holocaust deniers.”
In their letter, Scaramucci’s attorneys objected to the passage “[a] man who makes his Twitter accessible to friends interested in giving comfort to Holocaust deniers,” which appears to refer to a well-documented incident in which The Scaramucci Post polled its Twitter followers about how many Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Scaramucci has vehemently denied that he was supporting Holocaust deniers with the poll.
Scaramucci’s attorneys also objected to “the man who sold his soul in contradiction to his own purported beliefs for a seat in that White House.”
In the Nov. 13 op-ed piece, Caballero wrote:
“In addition, the administration has announced its intentions to invite Scaramucci to campus to discuss his ‘experiences in the private and public sectors, and lessons learned.’ This invitation by Tufts and the Fletcher School, as the first statement/response they have put out since the student/faculty petition, the Tufts Daily op-ed and the Boston Globe article, is a way to give Scaramucci a platform to legitimize his unethical behavior.
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Scaramucci’s attorneys objected to Caballero calling Scaramucci “unethical.”
In the same piece, Caballero also wrote:
“There is nothing wrong with inviting individuals and groups to speak on campus, and the administration or any student organization can certainly invite Scaramucci or anyone they please. The invitation to speak is not the issue. The issue is Scaramucci’s seat on the board and what will be the administration’s response to the petition. An invitation to speak to the campus has nothing to do with this response and is a separate item.
But as we know now, Scaramucci has shown his intentions while in the White House as well as in his public statements that he cares about gaining attention and nothing more, and we should not let this distract us from what the administration wishes to avoid having to take up and answer.”
Scaramucci’s attorneys objected to Caballero calling Scaramucci someone who “cares about gaining attention and nothing more.”