Harvard May Get Libel Money

A Harvard Law School graduate said if he wins a $50 million libel suit against The Wall Street Journal, he will donate most of it to the Kennedy School's Barone Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

Harry L. Freeman, a 1959 Law School Graduate, announced Tuesday that he filed the suit over a Wall Street Journal story written when he was executive vice president of the American Express Company.

The suit charges that The Wall Street Journal and Journal reporter Bryan Burrough defamed Freeman in an article about his dealings with international banker Edmond Safra, according to a press release issued by Freeman's attorney.

A spokesperson for The Wall Street Journal said yesterday that the Journal believes the suit is "without merit."

Freeman said if he wins the suit, the $40 million that constitutes compensatory damages will go to the Barone Center.

In an interview yesterday, Freeman said he decided to donate the money to the Barone Center because he is familiar with the Center, and considers it an appropriate outlet for money earned in a libel suit.

"I figured since I'm suing the media, I'd donate the money to a center which studies the media," Freeman said. "I didn't want to say I'd just give the money to charity, that's too vague. I wanted to make it clear that I was fighting for a principle, so it occurred to me I might as well donate it."

Freeman stressed the Barone Center has no connection with his lawsuit.

Freeman said the Wall Street Journal article, by falsely accusing him of running a smear campaign against Safra, has damaged his reputation and business interests.

"It creates a characterization of me that is false," he said. "It makes me appear to be a person experienced in dirty tricks. My friends read the article and they said, "Who are they talking about?'" Freeman said.

Freeman said he believes a book Burrough wrote based on his article shows that the article "represented a concentrated effort by the publication and its editorial staff to obtain a lucrative book contract--at the expense of the facts."

"I hope to set the record straight and clear my name," Freeman said. "I'm not interested in a lot of money from The Wall Street Journal.