So, hopefully by now you’ve all taken a look at the saga of the Washingtonienne (start with the last link above the google ads and work your way up to stay in chronological order). I’ve been utterly fascinated by this story for two reasons: first, who the hell would be so dumb as to blog their own acts of prostitution and office affairs, especially when they work for a Republican Senator (if she worked for Hillary, well… just kidding). Second, assuming they blogged it anyway, who the hell was the intended audience???

So, I’ve been sitting around hoping for the unveiling of the Washingtonienne with some anticipation… I’m imagining the tell-all book or interview with Barbara Walters explaining what in God’s name was going through her mind. I ended up talking about this to a few friends and we got onto the liability of various parties in this entire (entertaining) fiasco. Which brings me to my point.

First of all, let’s assume for a minute that someone puts together all the real names and people that are mentioned on the Washingtonienne blog. Then assume that it turns out to be untrue, that the author of the Washingonienne (the Author) made everything up using real people, passing it off as her life. Someone asked me if this would be considered libel. If it could be, who would be liable? Wonkette? The Author? Both?

Next question… assume that all of this stuff is true, that the Author is dumb and the whole thing is true. Would she be ill-advised to write a book or sign a movie deal about this because she could get arrested? For example, there’s that small detail of sex for money. Oh, and I’m guessing that she didn’t report that income to the IRS. If she were to write a book or work on a screenplay for a TV movie, would she be prevented from invoking her fifth amendment rights? Could it be used as evidence in any prosecution?

My belief so far on both questions is that Wonkette is pretty much in the clear because she simply linked to another site and even then said she couldn’t verify anything (repeatedly). The Author is only liable if she knowingly made the stuff up with the intent of it being taken as truth.

As for the criminal stuff, well, if I were her I’d keep my mouth shut…

Which is too damn bad, because I wanted to really see her interviewed by Larry King.