Regret the Error

Well, this is strange. Plagiarist Gerald Posner, who lost his job at the Daily Beast earlier this year and has since been accused of literary theft in his books as well, is now working as a lawyer and representing Qayum Karzai, brother of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, among other members of the Karzai family. Part of his new duties involves requesting corrections and "pursuing potential libel cases against his old colleagues in the Western media," according to Foreign Policy:

So far, Posner — who worked as a lawyer before becoming a journalist — says, his work on behalf of the Karzais has mostly involved pursuing potential libel cases against his old colleagues in the Western media, where the presidential family has taken a drubbing of late: The brothers have variously been accused of trafficking heroin, muscling their way into lucrative development projects, and selling materials for IEDs used against American troops. Posner hasn't filed any actual lawsuits yet, but says he is in contact with representatives of the New York Times, the New York Post, Fox News, the Toronto Star, and the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War think tank about reports they've published concerning the Karzais that he believes to be potentially libelous.

As evidence, see this correction from the Toronto Star:

A June 9 article about a Canadian dam project stalled in Afghanistan reported that sources in Kandahar told the Star that Qayum Karzai, brother of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, is the largest shareholder of Afghan security firm, Watan Risk Management. Karzai has since told the Star, through his U.S. lawyer, that he has no financial interest in Watan, which is operated by Rashid Popal, a cousin of the Karzai family.
According to Miami lawyer Gerald Posner: "At no time has Qayum Karzai ever had any financial or equitable interest in Watan Risk Management. At no time has he ever had any financial or equitable interest in any private security company in Afghanistan." Popal has also stated that Karzai does not own any shares in Watan.

The FP piece from July includes quotes from Posner. He says he's planning a comeback:

Posner says he hopes to eventually return to journalism — his big project is completing a book on the Vatican than he began several years ago. "I'm not comparing myself to Doris Kearns Goodwin," he says, referring to the historian who was similarly tarred as a plagiarist before becoming a bestselling author with her book on Abraham Lincoln's policy brain trust, Team of Rivals. "But what she did was disappear for a couple years and came back with a bulletproof, superb book. What I need to do is eventually come out with a book — it won't be about Afghanistan, but in three or four years I'll come back with that. And people will be able to say, he didn't put together two words from anyone."

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