August

7, 2020

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL

Casey Askar for Congress
P.O. Box 651
Naples, FL 3416

RE: CEASE AND DESIST – BYRON DONALDS

Dear Mr. Askar:

This law firm has the pleasure of representing Mr. Byron Donalds. Please direct all future
communications regarding this matter to my office at the address below. If you are represented by
counsel, please forward this correspondence for immediate review and response.

We are investigating the many false and baseless statements that you have made about Mr.
Donalds in your campaign advertisements. Most recently, you have accused Mr. Donalds of
supporting or voting for President Barack Obama. You have no evidence to support this allegation,
and in fact, you have plenty of evidence in opposition.

It is clear that your campaign has closely examined Mr. Donalds’ Facebook page, as you have
used it in the past to smear Mr. Donalds. However, it appears you deliberately chose to ignore several
critical statements Mr. Donalds has made against President Obama. Here are just a few:

1. February 27, 2009 – Criticizing President Obama’s budget and how it will tax all
Americans at the gas pump and in the grocery store.

2. March 2, 2009 – Criticizing President Obama’s healthcare programs.

3. March 3, 2009 - “Is this the 5th tax cheat to be nominated?” referring to a political
appointment of President Obama.

4. March 10, 2009 – Referring to President Obama as “anti-liberty” for federally mandated
funding of stem cell research.

5. March 19, 2009 – Criticizing President Obama and Senator Dodd for receiving campaign
contributions from AIG.

6. July 24, 2009 – Accusing President Obama of bait and switch when it came to his health
care plan.

13180 LIVINGSTON ROAD • SUITE 206 • NAPLES, FL 34109 • OFFICE: 239.593.7900 • FAX: 239.593.7909
 Florida’s Constitution expressly limits the type of protected speech that individuals may
freely engage in. Article I, Section 4, states that “[e]very person may speak, write and publish
sentiments on all subjects but shall be responsible for the abuse of that right”. The “use of calculated
falsehoods under any circumstances. . .is not constitutionally protected.” Long v. State, 622 So.2d
536, 537 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993); see also Garrison v. Lousiana, 379 U.S. 64 (1964) (holding that lies and
falsities are not constitutionally protected). Under Florida law, a public figure must prove (1) an
unprivileged communication; (2) of a false and defamatory statement concerning another; (3) made
with actual malice; and (4) damages as a result of the publication to prove defamation. Mile Marker,
Inc. v. Petersen Publ'g, LLC, 811 So. 2d 841, 845 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). Under the actual malice test, a
public figure must establish that the disseminator of the information either knew the alleged
defamatory statements were false or published them with reckless disregard despite awareness of
their probable falsity. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686
(1964).

In this case, it is clear that you knew the allegations were false. Your extensive review of Mr.
Donalds’ Facebook page demonstrates that falsity. There is nothing you could have discerned from
Mr. Donalds’ social media activity or his political activities that indicates that he actually did vote for
or support President Barack Obama. Despite having that knowledge, you proceeded with the
allegation out of pure malice toward Mr. Donalds.

No one understands the impact of a defamatory statement more than you. You claim to live
by a code that values truth, integrity and honor. That is why you filed a lawsuit against Andrew
Duskin, who accused you of not having a college degree despite your representation that you did1.
You filed the lawsuit to protect yourself from misguided and unfounded attempts to assassinate your
character. We applaud you for taking a stand against false statements.

However, the purpose of this letter is to demand that you hold yourself to the same standard
and retract the statements you made against Mr. Donalds. There are plenty of ways you can advocate
for your campaign without resorting to clearly false statements. If you choose to continue with these
false statements, Mr. Donalds will follow your lead and protect himself from misguided and
unfounded attempts to assassinate his character. We trust that such action is unnecessary.

Sincerely,

LINDSAY & ALLEN, PLLC


Todd B. Allen, Esq.

1
Casey Askar v. Andrew Dunkin, Circuit Court for Collier County, Florida Case No. 2020-CA-2145