That Redskins owner Dan Snyder would use litigation as a means to intimidate his DC critics is already well-established. However, just when you thought this ethically-challenged creep had sunk to a subterranean level, it turns out he’s getting awfully close to the center of the earth. Not content with bullying the likes of City Paper’s Dave McKenna, Snyder has now targeted those with the temerity to simply link to McKenna’s work, as his colleague Mike Madden explains :
According to the court papers Snyder’s legal team sent the Washington Post, they’re interested in learning why blogger Dan Steinberg linked to City Paper’s “Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder.” Steinberg writes about the off-field antics of just about every sports figure in the area, and he’s often linked to McKenna’s work; the two are friendly rivals on the same culture-and-business-of-sports beat. Snyder’s team told the Post in February they intended “to explore whether there was any agreement between McKenna and Steinberg to cross-promote McKenna’s pieces on Snyder.”
By delivering the subpoena, they showed they meant it. Among other requests, it seeks, from both Steinberg and the Post as an institution:
“All Documents evidencing or Relating to any Communication between You and McKenna pertaining to Snyder… All Documents evidencing or Relating to any Communication between You and McKenna pertaining to Snyder’s wife, Tanya Snyder… All Documents evidencing or Relating to any Communications between You and McKenna pertaining to the [City Paper cover art]… All Documents evidencing or Relating to the reasons for the inclusion of links in Your Washington Post columns, blogs, or on Twitter to McKenna’s City Paper articles… and All Documents evidencing or Relating to Your policies Relating to the inclusion of links in Your columns to other sources.”
Snyder’s lawyers also want to have Steinberg in for a deposition.