Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Lynn Prepares to Sue China

Attorney General Lynn Fitch issued the following statement.


Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced today that she is preparing to file a lawsuit against China to hold the Communist nation accountable for the malicious and dangerous acts that caused death, health injuries, and serious economic loss from the COVID-19 crisis.

“Too many Mississippians have suffered as a result of China’s cover-up,” said Attorney General Fitch. “They must not be allowed to act with impunity. Mississippians deserve justice and I will seek that in court.”

General Fitch’s case will seek damages under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and is similar to a case filed earlier this week by the State of Missouri. General Fitch also wrote to the Mississippi Congressional delegation to ask their support for legislation sponsored by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) that would create a very specific exception in FSIA for Americans to seek such damages, creating an even clearer pathway to victory for the people of Mississippi. The text of her letter is below. It was sent to all six members of the Mississippi delegation.

"I am writing to urge you to be an original cosponsor for [Representative Dan Crenshaw’s] Senator Tom Cotton’s Holding the Chinese Communist Party Accountable for Infecting Americans Act of 2020. This bill would give Americans the opportunity to sue China in federal court to recover damages related to death, injury, and economic loss suffered as a result of the Coronavirus.

"China did the world a great injustice by engaging in a complex cover-up of the dangers of this deadly virus. By silencing journalists, doctors, whistleblowers, and others, China exposed millions to the Coronavirus and kept the world from preparing, leading to higher death tolls and more dangerous public health impacts. They must be held to account for the damage they have done.

"There are ways to sue China under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), and I intend to pursue those on behalf of the people of this great State. But [Representative Crenshaw’s] Senator Cotton’s bill would give Mississippians an even clearer path to victory over China in the courts. The bill, which creates a very narrow exception to the FSIA, is modeled on the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which passed with overwhelming and bipartisan support in, and would be specific to the COVID-19 crisis.

"Too many have gotten seriously ill or died. Too many have lost their jobs and suffered the significant and lasting economic consequences that follow. Our State is experiencing tangible fiscal loss now and that will likely continue into the future. Mississippi families and businesses deserve to be made whole for China’s malicious and dangerous actions. I hope you will cosponsor [Representative Crenshaw’s] Senator Cotton’s bill to help them take this step toward recovery."


64 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is frivolous posturing. There are a million reasons why this will go away on jurisdictional grounds, but even skipping to the merits, this will not succeed. Mississippi will not be out-stupided.

Anonymous said...

Maybe she can sue the feds also for their incompetence, misinformation, and lies. Expect this to go nowhere in a hurry and be dropped once election season is over.

Anonymous said...

The threat of a lifting of FSIA to allow these suits to proceed against the Chinese government will be used as a negotiating ploy to push for more China concessions in the trade war. Once the administration gets enough of trade benefit from the threat, the suits will be swept away. China will pay through trade negotiations, not lawsuits.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Other governments hand out masks and sanitizers. But, hey, this makes (a lot of) (actually, NO) sense.

More Koch Brothers LiberalTarian Tea Party Pandering.

Why, look, Martha, the Chinese Commies is a spreading the virus at the beach somehow. Those sneaky son of a guns.

No, Lynn. It's OUR worthless Trump GubMint doing this to us. So's we can re elect a Moron? Nope. Not happening. He denies things he just said. He lied about it "going away." He went golfing and partied.

CDC warns 2nd Wave to be Worse. Mississippi cases keep INCREASING. Conclusion: Let's Sue China!

How stupid can we be? SMH.

Anonymous said...

She hired a Solicitor General for "crafting strategy for significant cases" and this is what they came up with?

Regardless, this isn't Lynn or her SG's idea. This is likely a ready-made lawsuit being shopped around by some right-wing think tank. Missouri has already filed a similar suit, and I'd be willing to bet that the filings look identical.

Also, this isn't a politically biased comment. AGs from both sides sign on to these types of suits all the time, but you don't have to sign on to the stupid ones. This is one of the stupid ones.

Anonymous said...

I see that she has started her campaign for guvanah!

Anonymous said...

She should look at suing Bill and Melinda Gates as well. If the accusations are half true, they should be held accountable.

Anonymous said...

If enough states file and are successful, we can cancel out our national debt held by china and:

1 - The federal government will owe the debt money held by China to the states and not to china.
2 - China will declare war on the USA.
3 - Maybe Mississippi can gain ownership of the AMC Movie Theatre Chain. They are a Chinese company that just bought the Cinemark Movie Chain. We could only show old Mary Ann Mobley movies - maybe Elvis, too. Oh Maybe Morgan Freeman, too.

Anonymous said...

The best thing the US can do is tell China to KMA on the debt we owe them and let the chips fall as they may. Im sure China's "Communist" Party are meeting trying to figure out how they are going to pay for this...

Anonymous said...

Total waste of time and money. Just an excuse for Lynn to take a position popular with her base AND feed taxpayer money to her wealthy lawyer-donor friends.

Anonymous said...

If she really wanted to get to the bottom of this manufactured global crisis then she should sue Dr. Charles Lieber. He's the doctor who spent almost 10 years in Wuhan soaking up grant money teaching Chinese military in Wuhan.

If the Chinese even bother to fight this lawsuit then they (the PRC) is just going to spill the beans and name names and our media will continue to obfuscate the truth.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/us/charles-lieber-harvard.html

Anonymous said...

1:13....um, you forget we continue to borrow trillions of dollars. Why would you cut off your biggest buyer?

You balance our federal budget, and that crap might work.

Frank Griffin said...

She is the Mistress of Self-Promotion, so this is not surprising. She is also the Bride of Burning Ambition, so she's thinking about the Governor's Mansion, but why stop there?

That she would do something this stupid and embarrassing is clear evidence that she may have found a game that can't play.

Anonymous said...

Lynn has no clue as to what she is filing

Anonymous said...

I want Morgan & Morgan to represent my claim in this. It is because they are “for the people.” It’s true. I have seen the commercials.

Anonymous said...

Just a publicity stunt that won't go anywhere. Plus, wasting more of our tax dollars. An embarrassing moment for Mississippi.

Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe said...

Did the coronavirus impact your city? You may be entitled to compensation.

Contact Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.

Stupid is as stupid does said...

Why are you wasting our money on this?
Please open up elective surgeries so this lady can get a brain transplant next time she hit up the Botox.

Anonymous said...

@1:13 We are depending on China to buy a lot of treasury bonds to finance the $4 trillion we are going to be expending on the stimulus and related packages. We can't afford to alienate them now.

Anonymous said...

Incredibly dumb. What a waste of time.

Anonymous said...

Noooooooo 2:13 Use Richard Shorts.


"One call, that's all."

"If you can't come to him, He'll come to you!"

"Richard got us our check."

Anonymous said...

@3:13, China buys a very small amount of our treasury bonds. The overwhelming majority are purchased by the American people, state lotteries, and thinly veiled foreign cutouts of the Federal Reserve bank in places like Brussels and Buenos Aires.

Anonymous said...

If she is running for Governor, she has plenty of signs at the ready. Remember none of them mentioned the office.

Anonymous said...

Another reason we should have elected Andy Taggart. Lynn is the most unqualified Attorney General in the country. What a joke.

Anonymous said...

This is a complete waste of resources

Anonymous said...

Positioning herself for a run at governor. If Tater is no smarter than he sounds during his daily briefings, her chance may come sooner than we think.

Fleece Shaftum & Moore said...

Pay no attention to Dewey Cheatem & Howe. Howe is a drunk. Dewey is in the middle of a sex change and seldom in the office. Cheatham is in drug rehab.

All jokes aside.... There is a reason Mississippi is dead lasted everything. I begged Jim Hood not to run for governor.

Anonymous said...

Contact Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.

I've used them but now recommend Slither, Slander & Hiss.

Anonymous said...

Lots of nay-sayers commenting. I will remind y’all that everyone thought Mike Moore was crazy and could never succeed against big tobacco. I’m glad to see an elected official taking a bold stand.

Anonymous said...

Y'all do the Google on "intervening superseding cause." Assuming there is somehow a duty on China to warn us of anything (there ain't), I'm pretty sure they can show it wouldn't have mattered if they told us sooner because, once we knew, we very clearly sat on our assess and did nothing about it for a month. Then, we protested the fact that our leadership finally did something (stay at home), even though inadequate (where are the tests? how can people live off of $120 week? where is the PPE? why do we have politicians making decisions instead of scientists?). And then, when we finally started to get things under control, they lifted the stay at home orders and THAT is what killed the majority of people. This lawsuit is a joke. The pandering to the Fox crowd and the OAN nutters is getting out of hand.

Anonymous said...

I'm not an attorney and I don't play one on T.V. but if this Sen. Cotton's bill changes the law or creates a new exception to the FISA would not a lawsuit seeking to access the new law be called ex post facto. I thought that was illegal or unconstitutional. Just askin'

Anonymous said...

The People's Republic of China is not big tobacco. And it's not a bold stand; it's a frivolous lawsuit with zero chance of success. Do you think that the world's largest country is going to submit to discovery in Mississippi? That they are going to give over state secrets that would prove or disprove whatever spurious allegations she makes? And that if a $1 zillion verdict is entered that the great State of Mississippi is going to be able to collect one damn dollar? Good lord, I wish I had some bridges to sell you mouth breathers.

Anonymous said...

Taking a bold stand??? Give me a break. This is the most idiotic idea: as if the State of Mississippi can sue a sovereign country, yeah, right. I guess all the "non-essential" lawyers at the AG's Office who have gone home during the COVID-19 pandemic have nothing more to do than think up hopeless lawsuits like this one. Kingfish, how about a public records request to see how many attorneys are actually doing any work at the AG's Office?

Anonymous said...

I’ve sued Chinese companies owned by the state.

I took default judgments in the millions.

Cost thousands to Serve through The Hague

Got zero but satisfied a large client for a bit

Lynn is mimicking WI AG and it’s a sad joke.

This wave of stupid cannot end soon enough.

Anonymous said...

nothing gets the humanoids of mississippi foaming at the mouth like the word lawsuit.

Anonymous said...

oh my goodness.
hold the phone.
a mississippi republican talking about suing someone?
how can this be?

their entire campaign platform is based on hatred for the trial bar..........tell me.......did they lie to us in the last election season?

Anonymous said...

6:19 The constitutional ban on enacting ex post facto laws applies to laws that create crimes for acts that were not illegal when committed or to increase penalties for illegal acts beyond what existed when the acts were committed. There is another thing it prohibits, but I have forgotten it. In any event, it applies in the context of the criminal law. If there is a similar prohibition in civil matters, it does not because of the ex post facto clause.

Anonymous said...

To those including Lindsay Graham Cracker clamoring for nullification of US debt held by China: 1) as of a year ago March they held roughly 21% or somewhere north of $1-trillion, not an insignificant %, and would never buy another penny of our debt, 2) equally if not more significantly, what would such a nullification do to our ability to sell debt to others going forward? What would “full faith and credit” mean thereafter? We would immediately and forever lose our position as THE safe haven for investors, and the cost of our subsequent debt would skyrocket. Again, the stupidity and ignorance of the people on this site is breathtaking, but, since it is so often repeated, I‘m breathing just fine.

Anonymous said...

If you really believe suing China is possible, you’re dumber than your teenager thinks. I can promise you, Xi Jinping is not concerned.

If y’all want to revenge them, stop buying their products. Spend a little more for better quality things and use them longer. My spouse (God love her) is the worst. If that Target product gets a little dirty, she doesn’t bother washing it. She Just throws it in the garbage. My grandkids won’t have any kind of heirlooms. Unless, they find a McDonald’s sausage biscuit under the sofa. I’m guilty too, when I don’t have time to research what I buy. Most of the good stuff doesn’t scream a logo, so don’t give me that crap. I could care less what the brand is, as long as it works. For a long time. Stop buying products Made in China.

Anonymous said...

As 7:57 mentioned, I think this would have to go through The Hague. Interpreters alone would cost a fortune. This is total incompetence, but that’s what we get when we expect politicians to practice law.

Anonymous said...

Is she using. Outside attorneys or on staff?

Anonymous said...

Another thing you might ask is if the Attorney General is hiring an outside law firm to prosecute this suit. If she is, what about all the moaning about Jim Hood and Mike Moore hiring outside law firms?

Anonymous said...

She's likely having to feed all her legal firm donors some business like Mikey and Jimmy boy did - because they've been clamoring for that easy taxpayer money since Jimmy lost. They've probably been ringing her office constantly...

Anonymous said...

Pressure the President to recognize Taiwan. It's the only thing that will really sting China.

Anonymous said...

Whoever brought this nonsense idea to her bronze desk should have been met with the question, "How the hell could we possibly recover a dime from communist China?"

She got where she based on two things: Haley Barbour and Publicity Stunts. And she will NEVER be governor. That would require climbing over too many qualified people. Her PERS ascension has been one helluva ride, but this is where it ends.

Anonymous said...

Republican voter here. This is a waste of money, time and resources.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many of the commenters on this post are ones that were fired by General Fitch when she “cleaned house” at the AG’s office? I suspect quite a few and maybe Andy, too!

Anonymous said...

to 6:09....got news for you man, in politics only the faces change, the same ole BS never does.

Anonymous said...

From what I hear she NEEDS to turn her attention inward toward a couple of her hires and stop micro managing EVERY SINGLE SMALL DETAIL... like what hangs on the office walls... geez... and let people do their job. Some of the people you’ve hire have no idea what they are doing and they are ruining their division

Anonymous said...

China, the country that puts all m uslims in prison work camp for retraining camp and also bans any black tourists. Let's not forget arresting protesters in Taiwan and Hong Kong. No one is worse to political prisoners not even cuba... Cuba at least makes up a reason to imprison blacks... Americans can't grasp what life in one of these countries really amounts to except for the super rich.

Anonymous said...

This should be good.

Chinese Communist Party vs American conservative Con-Artist Party

Anonymous said...

609 even if you are correct that doesn’t mean they are wrong... no doubt some folks needed to be cut but there were some productive, knowledgeable people who were cut and it hurt the office

Anonymous said...

@ 9:11 Post of the Year, congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Lynn seems to be oblivious to what’s going on internally... and why is she worried about what’s hanging on the walls and not how some divisions are being run. News flash some of your political hires are working out

Anonymous said...

6:09: Ad hominem barbs do nothing to make this any less frivolous or incompetent. Frankly, I'd like to see what a federal judge does with this thing, if she actually files it. I enjoy watching objective logic and reason cut through political hot air. It gives me hope.

Anonymous said...

11:58 p.m. here with a follow up thought. There is no question that China is a bad actor on the global stage. However, this proposed lawsuit has no hope of success, which is the legal standard for a "frivolous" action.

Anonymous said...

8:24 is right. all these humanoids going ape crap crazy over the word lawsuit. 99% of the people in mississippi have zero net worth and got absolutely nothing to loose, yet they obsess over lawsuits as if they got millions.

Anonymous said...

Assuming for sake of argument that China is a viable Defendant from which a potentially-victorious Mississippi could actually collect whatever damages it can prove were the result of China's conduct, does the AG's office have the talent to litigate something like this? If not, how much will it cost to bring in hired guns to tilt at this windmill? And in either case, the motion practice, discovery, etc. would be very interesting to say the least. On top of which, there are standard legal questions for any such claim. For example: how could "China" have foreseen that Bubba Backfat and his bunch or Jarvitreous and his bunch would be stupid enough to be, well, themselves after they were repeatedly warned of the potential dangers of being so stupid? Bottom line, and assuming everything goes just right for Fitch and whoever attempts this, what is Mississippi's realistic net on something like this?

Anonymous said...

If this shit ever ends, I want to see an itemized break down of how much this stunt cost.

Hell, we can't even pay most unemployment claims right now,

Anonymous said...

10:57, I suspect this will end when a federal judge rules that the Southern District of Mississippi doesn’t have personal jurisdiction over the Chinese government with respect to this lawsuit. That is, if the AG’s office can first navigate The Hauge to get service of process on China.

Anonymous said...

1029. From what I hear Lynn is the problem. Wants to micromanage everything and not let who she hired to do their job. I predict she will start losing top people soon...

Anonymous said...

Looks like we are in a long line... Germany, Australia Italy UK, Brazil countless other states are going to file suit against China. Although the U.S. and prob Australia and Germany have much more efficient ways to squeeze the Chinese government into paying. I was in China for 4 years after a Georgetown overseas learning abroad semester... I can tell you horror stories of how that gov't treats it's people. Also, you don't want to be a black tourists and sure as hell don't want to be a Muslim as it lands you in a concentration camp... they call it relearning camp... they harvest organs of prisoners and it's a horriblenplace unless your one of the wealthy.

Anonymous said...

Lynn’s problem is not that she doesn’t know what she is doing. That’s manageable. Her problem is that she is unable to hire people who know what they are doing. Jessie is in way over his head, making legal decisions without a law degree always a dangerous to pretend you understand litigation. Her chief of staff is nuts. And her two deputies are too afraid of her to speak up. I give it until the end of covid and half of her leadership will walk. Did y’all ever find that fish tank?

Anonymous said...

1026 she’s gotta pay those political favors....



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