Judge throws out Rosen lawsuit against AIPAC

US court rules AIPAC statement that Rosen's behavior "did not comport with standards that AIPAC expects of its employees" was not defamatory.

By JTA
A judge has thrown out a defamation suit against AIPAC by its former foreign policy boss, Steve Rosen.
Judge Erik Christian of the Washington, DC, Superior Court ruled on Wednesday that a statement by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that Rosen was fired because his behavior “did not comport with standards that AIPAC expects of its employees” was not defamatory.
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Instead, Christian said, the statement, made by AIPAC spokesman Patrick Dorton to The New York Times, “is the characterization of an employer that does not rest on any objectively verifiable facts.” He went on to say that the statement was “neither precise nor verifiable.”
Rosen filed the lawsuit against AIPAC and Dorton in April 2009, just before a federal court threw out classified information charges against him and Keith Weissman, a former AIPAC Iran analyst, for lack of evidence.
AIPAC fired Rosen and Weissman in March 2005.
Evidence emerged since then that the US federal government pressured the organization to fire the men as a means of isolating them, although AIPAC has steadfastly denied this. AIPAC initially was supportive of Rosen and Weissman after the FBI investigation came to light in August 2004.
Rosen told The Washington Post he would likely appeal.