Dan Gross: First Amendment Defender

The Daily News writes about the case against Larry Mendte today, and does address the paper’s own mentions in the court documents.

(Fox 29, also, mentioned last night that Dawn Stensland is Mendte’s wife; it wasn’t really anything special, but it was kind of sad to hear Kerri-Lee Halkett be forced to say “fair and balanced.”)

Mendte, incidentally, will plead guilty, according to his lawyer.

The Daily News story has some great lines, such as: “And that was just as Lane, dubbed ‘anchorbabe’ and the ‘Latina bombshell,’ had suspected.” And here we go, straight out of a film noir movie:

Then, he allegedly dispensed intimate details to the Daily News of Lane’s late-night confrontation with undercover New York police, in which she allegedly called a policewoman a slur, as well as confidential attorney-client communications about her lawsuits. These details then appeared on PhillyGossip.com, a blog written by Dan Gross [in the photo, with an indestructible cheerleader], and later in the Daily News.

Asked if Mendte supplied information about Lane, Gross said, “I don’t discuss whether anyone is, or is not, a source of mine.” Asked if he cooperated in the FBI investigation, Gross said, “Absolutely not. I have never been contacted by any investigator in the case.”

Ha ha, Dan Gross is going to shut anyone down! He’s ready to go to jail to protect his known source, Larry Mendte! (Unless Mendte leaked to Regina Medina or Damon C. Williams.)

The feds also found the famed Alycia Lane bikini pix on Mendte’s computer, but didn’t say if he was Page 6’s source. If he was, Larry: Shame on you. For the first time since this scandal started I am actually mad. One, he could have released them to the public. And two, he could have at least given them to a news source in Philadelphia instead of the New York Post. We can take lawbreakers, Larry; we don’t tolerate Benedict Arnolds.

Mendte faces a felony count [Daily News]
Photo via South Philly Review