Boies Schiller Flexner sued The Intercept and parent company Look Media Works Inc. for defamation Wednesday in New York Southern District Court on behalf of Erik Prince, founder of the private military firm Academi, formerly known as Blackwater. The suit, which centers on a 2020 article titled, ‘Erik Prince offered lethal services to sanctioned Russian mercenary firm Wagner,’ contends that The Intercept and reporters Matthew Cole and Alex Emmons falsely portrayed Prince, a former Navy SEAL officer, as unpatriotic.
In the subject article, The Intercept reported that Prince attempted to solicit his firm’s services to Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary group operating in Libya and Mozambique, citing multiple anonymous sources. Wagner is under U.S. sanctions.
