Las Vegas Sands Lawsuit.JPG
Sheldon Adelson, the chairman of the board of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, in a 2012 photo.
(AP file photo)
NEWARK — A federal judge today turned down billionaire Sheldon Adelson's efforts to prevent Wall Street Journal lawyers from asking his former auditor whether the casino magnate is "foul-mouthed."
Adelson, a major Republican, is suing Wall Street Journal reporter Kate O'Keeffe for libel in a Hong Kong court, alleging she falsely referred to him as "foul-mouthed" in a December 2012 story.
In September 2014, Wall Street Journal lawyers asked a New Jersey federal judge to issue a subpoena to Kirk Thorell, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Florham Park office, who for 25 years was the auditor for Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Casino, according to the decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk.
The request for a subpoena seeking documents and a deposition was granted on Sept. 30, 2014.
The Journal reported that "personal tension" between Adelson and Pricewaterhouse led to the company's decision to resign as the Sands' auditor, Falk noted.
"It is O'Keeffe's position that Mr. Thorell has or may have information and/or documents that would support the notion that Mr. Adelson is "foul-mouthed," Falk writes.
Adelson is regarded as one of the world's richest men and a major player in Republican circles who hosted a Las Vegas fundraiser for Gov. Chris Christie in 2013.
His lawyers accuse the Journal of attempting an end-run around the libel proceedings in Hong Kong and cast the request as a "fishing expedition," the judge added.
"The request is not burdensome," Folk writes in rejecting that argument. "O'Keeffe claims Thorell and PwC terminated their relationship with Mr. Adelson based on personal difficulties. While Movants (Adelson's lawyers) refer to the discovery requests as a fishing expedition, it seems clear that the discovery sought could bear on the question of whether Mr. Adelson is 'foul-mouthed' for purposes of the Hong Kong lawsuit."
The article, co-authored by Wall Street Journal reporter Alexandra Berzon, called Adelson "a scrappy, foul-mouthed billionaire from working class Dorchester, Mass.," according to a Journal report on the lawsuit.
Thorell has not sought permission to quash the subpoenas, the judge added.
O'Keefe says the deposition and documents sought from Thorell are essential to her defense.
She is also seeking to serve supboenas on the Sands and other individuals based in Nevada, the judge noted.
O'Keeffe's lawyers, in court papers filed in December, accused Adelson of purposefully filing the lawsuit in Hong Kong to avoid more stringent First Amendment protections in the U.S.
"By filing suit not in the U.S., where he lives, but in Hong Kong, against O'Keeffe personally, Adelson seeks to circumvent U.S. law's strong protections for a free press, protections that would have resulted in the early dismissal of claims challenging just such non-defamatory opinions," they wrote.
They added: "Having drawn O'Keeffe into court in Hong Kong, where O'Keeffe has the burden of proving that Adelson is 'foul-mouthed," Adelson now makes every effort to prevent the truth from coming to light."
Falk noted that the two sides differ on the definition of "foul-mouthed."
"Mr. Adelson has apparently defined foul-mouthed as meaning that he used language that was 'obscene, profane or scurrilous; abusive, blasphemous, coarse and offensive and or 'rude and lewd." Falk writes.
Attorneys for Adelson could not immediately be reached for comment.
"We are gratified that the court rejected Mr. Adelson's attempt to avoid discovery in the United States," said Jason P. Conti, the senior vice president & deputy general counsel for Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal's parent company. "We will continue to vigorously defend our reporter in this meritless Hong Kong libel case."
Thomas Zambito may be reached at tzambito@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomZambito. Find NJ.com on Facebook.