An attorney for Tony Podesta on Monday sent a cease and desist letter to Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the network, claiming its assertions of collusion with Russia against Podesta are "defamatory."
Podesta resigned Monday as chairman of the Podesta Group lobbying firm, and is the brother of John Podesta, former campaign chairman of Hillary Clinton's failed election bid.
It's not clear why Tony Podesta resigned, but it came on the same day that former campaign chairman to President Donald Trump Paul Manafort was arraigned for multiple counts of defrauding the U.S., including not registering as a foreign agent, something Podesta reportedly did not do in his work on behalf of foreign governments.
However, attorney Geoffrey Garinther in his letter to Carlson said any links to Manafort and Podesta are a "callous disregard for the truth."
"I write to demand that you and Fox News Channel immediately cease and desist disseminating false and misleading reports about" Podesta and his firm, saying reports during two of Carlson's shows last week are "provably false … and defamatory."
At issue is the public relations work Podesta Group did on behalf of Ukraine to better its image in the West, an effort Manafort was leading.
But Garinther in his letter said "Paul Manafort did not work with the Podesta Group in its representation" of the organization that retained Podesta Group.
Garinther said Carlson's "propagated falsehoods" included asserting that Manafort was in the offices of Podesta Group monthly, and that Manafort and Podesta were nefariously working for Russia rather than the "sham" organization that had retained Podesta's firm, the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, or ECFMU.
However, the ECFMU has links to former Ukranian President Victor Yanukovych, the pro-Russia official who fled to Russia after his ouster in 2014.
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