O’Reilly Sues Ex-Politician Who Dated One of His Accusers

Bill O'Reilly

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has sued a New Jersey ex-politician for writing on his Facebook page that O’Reilly sexually harassed his ex-girlfriend and wanted her to dig up dirt on another accuser.

Michael Panter

According to the AP, a summons filed on Friday in New York state court seeks redress for Michael J. Panter’s “intentional, malicious, and bad faith actions in making defamatory and false statements in a publicly available social media post.”

Panter, a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2008, posted a lengthy message on his Facebook page Tuesday describing how his girlfriend received several late-night calls from O’Reilly, with whom she worked, that "would create tension and make her clearly uncomfortable."

O’Reilly is asking for at least $5 million in damages “for the public hatred, ridicule, disgrace, and permanent harm to his professional and personal reputations” as a result of the post, according to the court document.

In a Facebook post earlier this week, Panter wrote that his ex-girlfriend, a Fox employee he didn’t name, had settled a claim against O’Reilly and was bound by a non-disclosure agreement. But he said he felt compelled to speak out after hearing “O’Reilly spinning his falsehoods almost daily.”