Former Statehouse Candidate Eli El's Letter Explaining Lawsuit Against D20 Incumbents & ex-Blogger Adam Pagnucco

A pair of Maryland Juice sources have forwarded the following email from former District 20 Delegate candidate Eli El to four of Governor O'Malley's aides. In an article earlier this week, we noted that during last year's Democratic Primary, Mr. El's legal history was the subject of discussion on the Maryland Politics Watch blog. In particular, allegations of his past domestic disturbances came to light, and he is now contemplating suing those involved with the blog, as well as the three incumbents who defeated him -- Delegates Sheila Hixson, Tom Hucker and Heather Mizeur. Presumably, he blames all of them for the content on the blog, though his complaint acknowledges that the content was all publicly available through the Maryland courts. That is likely why the complaint focuses on bullying. As we also previously noted, the statute of limitations has likely run on these claims. See Eli El's email below:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Eli El <xxxxx@xxxxxxx.com>
Date: Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 2:19 PM
Subject: ISO Attorney
To: jhitchcock@gov.state.md.us, jbarker@gov.state.md.us, rstemmle@gov.state.md.us, kcrispino@gov.state.md.us

Hello Friends, Family, and Neighbors,

I need everyone's help and prayers.  I am in search of an attorney to represent me as I file a defamation per quod action case against someone. This sums up the urgency of the situation:

Former District 20 Candidate Eli El Weighing Lawsuit Against Delegates Hixson, Hucker, Mizeur & ex-Blogger Adam Pagnucco

UPDATE: A reader points out that the blog posts in question were written over a year ago. That means the statute of limitations may have expired on these types of claims.

Former District 20 candidate for House of Delegates Eli El appears to be contemplating a lawsuit against District 20 Delegates Sheila Hixson, Tom Hucker and Heather Mizeur, along with former Maryland Politics Watch (MPW) blogger Adam Pagnucco. A source has pointed Maryland Juice in the direction of a draft legal complaint by Mr. El. We copy the document below.

It appears (for now) that Mr. El is representing himself, given the unusual construction of the complaint. It doesn't seem to actually state the legal basis for any claim upon which he might seek relief. Instead, Mr. El broadly discusses the tactic of "Cyberbullying" in political campaigns and seems to complain about the way the MPW blog discussed publicly available documents regarding alleged domestic disturbances in his legal docket. Unfortunately those articles are now offline:

Was Mr. El inspired by former Senator Mike Lenett's lawsuit against his former legislative aide? If so, we in the blogosphere should note the frivolous nature of Mr. El's claims -- lest we all begin to face a wall of harassment from sore losers everywhere. See the weak argumentation for yourself:


Draft Legal Complaint: Eli El vs. Adam Pagnucco, Sheila Hixson, Tom Hucker & Heather Mizeur