Barr & Klein PLLC

08/21/2026

Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit completely reversed the trial court’s judgment in Democracy Partners v. O’Keefe, ruling and re-affirming that the scorned subject of an undercover journalism investigation may not circumvent First Amendment protections by re-framing reputational harm from a publication as damages from fraud or other torts. The court also held that an undercover journalist posing as an unpaid intern may not be lightly held to a fiduciary duty, and found that the standard was not met before the jury.

This is the biggest win for undercover journalism since Food Lion v. Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. more than 25 years ago. Barr & Klein PLLC was the sole representation for James O’Keefe and Allison Maass in the appeal.

Read the opinion here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13K0Ndbt1aVh0YRd_umXKKXu0azAlY1bA/view?usp=share_link

05/01/2026

“‘I think that chain of causation they describe is, um, trying to find the right word for, pretty ludicrous,’ said Kaste of the skewed characterization of Wylie and Larson’s votes. ‘And yet in politics, given our First Amendment, you can say pretty ludicrous stuff.’

The judge gave that speech after hearing oral arguments in which WY Freedom PAC attorney Stephen Klein of Washington, D.C.-based Barr and Klein, urged Kaste to dismiss the case on First Amendment grounds.

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'I cannot in good conscience send this to a jury, given the state of the evidence as it relates to actual malice. And I take comfort in the fact that that’s the typical result in these cases,' said Kaste.”

A judge on Thursday dismissed the defamation case of two legislators against the campaign arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. “You can say pretty ludicrous…