Al Gore sues Al Jazeera for fraud after $500 million acquisition deal
Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, co-founders of Current TV, filed a lawsuit against Al Jazeera claiming the news channel is withholding 'tens of millions of dollars' that is past due to Current TV's shareholders, after the sattelite news network bought Current TV for $500 million last year.
According to the lawsuit filed in Delaware, the acquisition contract signed by Al Jazeera agreed to pay Current TV's shareholders the millions sitting in an escrow account, but the satellite network is now refusing to pay it.
'Al Jazeera America wants to give itself a discount on the purchase price that was agreed to nearly two years ago,' said Gore's legal representative, David Boies, in a statement. 'We are asking the Court to order Al Jazeera America to stop wrongfully withholding the escrow funds that belong to Current's former shareholders.'
The complaint was sealed per request of Al Jazeera but Boies, who also represented Gore in the 2000 presidential election recount dispute against George W. Bush, asked the Court to make the complaint public.
'We do not believe that our complaint should be sealed,' Boies said. 'However, despite being a news organization, Al Jazeera America has said that the full complaint should be kept from the public file. We have therefore filed the complaint under seal until the Court can resolve this issue. We expect that the Court will reject Al Jazeera America's argument.'
Al Jazeera America is able to reach about 43 million homes in the U.S. since acquiring Gore's network. The news channel, owned by the Qatari royal family, is facing fraud charges. According to a commnications representative, it is still examining the accusation.
'Our outside counsel is reviewing the complaint,' wrote Dawn Bridges, the Executive Vice President of Communications for Al Jazeera to Politico in an email. 'We think it relates to commercial dispute between former shareholders of Current Media and Al Jazeera America.'
Bridges wrote they might have further comment 'once they've reviewed everything.'
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