By Damien Fisher
It took more than three years of litigation and the destruction of a right-wing Catholic news outlet, but New Hampshire’s Rev. Georges de Laire finally got Gary Michael Voris to say he’s sorry.
Voris settled the federal defamation lawsuit de Laire brought in 2021 over articles based on the reporting of nomadic canon lawyer and erstwhile Voris confidante Marc Balestrieri.
The apology Voris finally offered came this summer, after his online news outfit, Church Militant, shut down and his non-profit, Saint Michael’s Media, paid $500,000 to de Laire.
“I offer my full and genuine apology to Fr. de Laire for any hurt or emotional distress he suffered as a result of a news article titled ‘New Hampshire Vicar Changes Dogma Into Heresy’ on the St. Michael’s Media website churchmilitant.com on January 17, 2019,” Voris wrote in his apology letter.
Suzanne Elovecky, de Laire’s attorney, said Voris’ apology came with a “substantial” monetary payment to de Laire. Elovecky called the settlement a “complete victory” over Voris.
“It’s a good thing for Fr. de Laire and really shows Voris was on his heels,” Elovecky.
The lawsuit isn’t done, though, as Balestrieri’s end of the case remains unresolved. Already deemed liable for defaulting in the lawsuit, Balestrieri is currently trying to get out of paying damages to de Laire. The priest wants Balestrieri to pay at least $100,000, according to court records.
Voris’ outlet published videos and articles starting in January of 2019 calling de Laire ‘emotionally unstable,’ stating de Laire is incompetent, and implying he’s corrupt, according to the lawsuit. The articles came in response to the Roman Catholic Diocese of New Hampshire disciplining the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a fringe traditionalist group with a compound in rural Richmond, New Hampshire. At the time, de Laire was the judicial vicar for the diocese and the front man for dealing with the Slaves.
Voris initially took credit for the article and kept secret that Balestrieri was the true author. Additionally, at the time the original article came out, Balestrieri was involved in the Slave’s canon law defense. Both Voris and Louis Villarubbia, the Slaves leader also known as Brother Andre Marie, claimed they had no knowledge of Balestrieri’s conflict of interest.
Voris placed a large chunk of the blame for the articles on his failure to properly vet Balestrieri’s work.
“As CEO of St. Michael’s Media and Church Militant.com, I did not ensure the proper vetting the article as I should have. Mr. Balestrieri did not substantiate, and has not substantiated in the lawsuit, his claims regarding Father de Laire by identifying sources. Prior to publication, SMM should have questioned this lack of substantiation, and should have assessed Mr. Balistieiri’s and his story’s objectivity. I did not ensure that SMM did so,” Voris wrote.
Court records show Voris worked to keep Balestrieri’s identity secret for months after the lawsuit was filed. After Balestrieri’s connection came to light, Voris supplied him with an interest-free $65,000 loan as Balestrieri dodged process servers. Balestrieri was finally ruled in default and liable for the defamation for failing to respond to the lawsuit.
As the case moved closer to a fall, 2023 trial, court records show de Laire’s team learned Voris and his Church Militant staff had been hiding evidence sought in discovery, including messages with Balestrieri. Balestrieri then made a surprise appearance at a June, 2023 hearing in the United States District Court in Concord seeking to get out from under the default judgement.
Weeks before, Balestrieri denied to Villarubbia that he had written the original article. At the June hearing, Balestreiri agreed to sit for a deposition scheduled for July, 2023 during which he was likely to repeat that denial under oath. However, court records show the day of the June hearing, Voris sent Balestreiri a text message warning.
“Marc – you are committing perjury. You know you wrote that article. What you don’t know is this morning we found proof – your digital fingerprints – all totally documented – on that article. Remember the email address – TomMoore@Churchmilitant.com.? We have all the receipts. You go through with this and we will rain down on you publicly. You are a liar, and a Welch,” Voris wrote.
Balestrieri cancelled his deposition 24 hours before it was to start, and again disappeared from the scene for a time.
From this point on, Church Militant and Voris were headed for disaster. Three defense lawyers quit the case, more evidence that had been withheld was found, Voris was fired for violating Church Militant’s “morality clause” via a gay sex scandal, and Church Militant ran out of money. In February, the outlet agreed to settle with de Laire for half a million dollars before it went dark in April.
Balestrieri also reappeared this month, filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the legal theory he cannot be sued in New Hampshire for defamation since he never went to New Hampshire when writing the article, and the article was published by Church Militant’s Ferndale, Michigan office.
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Image: Still from interview in which Voris argues CBS should lose its license for violating journalistic standards