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CITY BEAT 14 COUNTY BEAT 14 COURT BEAT 15 Newsworthy
Goguen Sues Missouri Governor Candidate for Defamation White sh philanthropist claims Missouri candidate spreading lies about separate civil suit
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
Prominent White sh investor and philanthropist Michael Goguen has led a defamation lawsuit against a Missouri gubernatorial candidate after the Repub- lican politician referred to Goguen as “the owner of a teenage sex slave.”
John Brunner, one of four candidates for governor in next Tuesday’s Republi- can primary in Missouri, made the state- ment during a July 13 televised debate and reiterated the accusation in a com- ment to the Kansas City Star newspaper.
Goguen, who reportedly donated $1 million to the campaign of Brunner’s Republican opponent, Eric Greitens, is involved in a separate civil case claim- ing he is the victim of extortion and has denied allegations of sexual abuse, which surfaced in a breach of contract com- plaint led earlier this year in California.
Amber Laurel Baptiste, a Canadian citizen who carried on a relationship with Goguen for over a decade, led a lawsuit in March, claiming Goguen failed to pay her $30 million to keep the details of their a air con dential.
Goguen, a successful venture capital- ist who lives with his family in White sh and has invested in several local inter- ests, including the Two Bear Air search and rescue program, led a countersuit, stating he had a consensual, adult rela- tionship with Baptiste before she became “consumed by anger, obsession and jeal- ousy” after the relationship ended in 2013.
In the months since the original com- plaint emerged, a former roommate of Baptiste’s has provided sworn testimony disputing her friend’s characterization of Goguen, and the attorneys for Bap- tiste quit after Baptiste sent threatening emails to Goguen’s legal counsel, accord- ing to court records.
Goguen’s attorneys say the White sh resident is ghting to clear his name and reputation in both the Baptiste case and now the defamation suit, which was led July 26.
In the complaint against Brunner, Goguen’s attorneys point out that Bap- tiste never claimed to be a teenager during their relationship, nor did she claim to be a “teenage sex slave.”
“Not only is this statement demon- strably false, it was not even alleged in Ms. Baptiste’s complaint,” the lawsuit states.
In the debate with Greitens, Brunner said, “(I) refuse to be lectured by a guy
Michael Goguen. BEACON FILE PHOTO
who took $1 million from the owner of a teenage sex slave.”
Brunner reiterated the accusation in an interview with the Kansas City Star, saying “I refuse to be lectured on ethics by Eric Greitens who refuses to return $1 million his campaign took from a man charged with having a sex slave for 13 years.”
A sta member for Brunner’s cam- paign also made a reference to Goguen on Facebook as a “sex slave tra cker.”
Although Goguen’s name was never mentioned, his attorneys say Brunner’s comments clearly allude to Goguen and leave the false impression that Goguen was criminally charged; Baptiste’s alle- gations came to light in a breach-of-con- tract civil suit and there have been no criminal charges led against Goguen.
Goguen’s attorneys contacted Brun- ner and his campaign on July 15 asking that the statements be retracted and cor- rected. Brunner has ignored the request, according to Goguen’s attorneys.
When contacted by the Beacon seek- ing comment, Brunner’s campaign spokesman Gregg Keller stated, “This is a desperate attempt by Eric Greit- ens’ California political benefactor and friend to take attention o of what Mis- sourians are coming to know: Eric Gre- itens is a lifelong liberal Democrat who drove cross-country to cheer Barack Obama at his Convention and supported Obama’s failed $831 billion ‘stimulus’ and is now attempting to convince Missouri
Republicans he’s one of them.”
Goguen’s lawsuit counters the cam-
paign’s stance, stating, “Mr. Brunner has knowingly and maliciously spread demonstrable lies about Mr. Goguen, falsely accused him of heinous acts and crimes, and defamed him simply because he donated money to one of Mr. Brun- ner’s political opponents.”
The lawsuit adds, “Mr. Brunner’s sus- tained and unfounded attacks on Mr. Goguen have caused signi cant and dis- tinct harm to Mr. Goguen’s reputation and he has sustained actual damages as a result.”
With the emergence of the defama- tion suit, new details have come to light in the Baptiste case, which is proceeding in California court with a tentative jury trial slated for May 2017.
In the documents, Baptiste’s former roommate disputes several claims made against Goguen, particularly involving accusations of sexual assault and that Goguen spread a sexually transmitted disease to Baptiste. In a sworn a davit, Diane Bobie Andrews refuted character- izations made by Baptiste in the original suit.
“I do not know Michael Goguen and have never met him, nor do I have any nancial interest in the outcome of this lawsuit. Ms. Baptiste mentioned to me that she had a close friend named ‘Mike.’ She always spoke of ‘Mike’ in positive terms and appeared to hold him in high regard,” Andrews said, according to
court records.
“There was never a suggestion made
to me during the time that I have known Ms. Baptiste that Mr. Goguen raped or sexually abused her. On the contrary, Ms. Baptiste always spoke very highly of her friend ‘Mike.’ At no time did I ever hear Ms. Baptiste say anything negative about him.”
Andrews’ comments di er from the situation described by Baptiste, who claimed she su ered verbal abuse, non- consensual sex and “demeaning sexual acts” from 2001 to 2013.
Goguen says he and Baptiste carried on a consensual relationship for several years, starting when she was 21 and he was in his 30s. They would see each other “only occasionally, typically no more than a few times a year, and largely at Ms. Baptiste’s request,” according to Goguen.
Baptiste, who was at one point mar- ried to a man in Texas, became “delu- sional, bitter, and jealous of Goguen’s wife and family,” according to Goguen’s attorneys. In his counter-complaint, he submitted excerpts from text messages and more than 50 emails purportedly from Baptiste expressing her love and a ection for him, illustrating the consen- sual nature of the relationship, according to Goguen’s attorneys.
When Goguen ended the relationship, Baptiste hatched a plan to extort Goguen for millions of dollars and “punish” him for ending their a air, according to his attorneys.
According to Goguen, he agreed in May 2014 to pay Baptiste $40 million. He acknowledges paying Baptiste the rst installment of $10 million “to protect his family’s privacy and reputation, and to buy peace from Ms. Baptiste’s in amma- tory accusations.” Goguen claims Bap- tiste broke the pair’s agreement by con- tinuing to contact him and harass him, including by making demeaning remarks about his wife.
Since the lawsuit was led in March, Baptiste has sent several harassing and threatening emails to attorneys rep- resenting Goguen, according to court records.
Two days after the emails were for- warded to the law rm representing Bap- tiste, her attorneys led a motion in Cal- ifornia state court asking to be relieved as Bapiste’s counsel, citing irreconcilable di erences regarding the strategy, han- dling and course of their proceedings, as well as a breakdown in communication.
dtabish@ atheadbeacon.com
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AUGUST 3, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM