Mandela Barnes filed a defamation suit Tuesday against the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, saying two stories it published July 30 gave a false picture of his conduct and were shaped by a staff reporter with whom he once had a relationship. The paper says its reporting was edited, reviewed by lawyers and fair to him.
Barnes, Wisconsin’s former lieutenant governor, is one of the most prominent Black elected officials the state has produced. Wisconsin has never had a Black governor, and he was running for the Democratic nomination when the paper published “Sources detail concerns about Mandela Barnes’ behavior toward women” and, the same day, “Mandela Barnes ends Democratic campaign for Wisconsin governor.”
The first story reported allegations that he used his political standing to pursue sexual relationships with adult women. The complaint, as reported by WPR and Spectrum News, says one story described an investigation by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin that never took place, according to his attorney, Michael Cerjak. Barnes also disputes the paper’s link between the allegations and his decision to leave the race. He denies using his position that way.
The suit’s most unusual claim concerns the newsroom. It says a political reporter at the paper had an intermittent sexual relationship with Barnes for several years starting around 2018. His campaign told the paper about the relationship on July 30 and asked that she be kept off the story. According to the complaint, she was removed, but other reporters re-reported her work the same day, and the stories did not tell readers about the conflict.
“Accuracy and fairness matter deeply when reporting affects a person’s reputation, family, and future,” Barnes said in a statement.
Executive Editor Greg Borowski answered: “The Journal Sentinel stands by our reporting. The story went through our standard editing and legal review, and Mr. Barnes was given the opportunity to respond before publication.” The paper declined a retraction demand Barnes sent Oct. 28. He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and a ruling that the statements are false and defamatory.
Nothing in the suit has been tested. A court has not decided whether either story was false, and the allegations about how Barnes treated women remain allegations that he denies. The women’s accounts deserve to be taken seriously whatever happens to this case.
But the question the suit raises about the paper is fair, and the paper owes readers a plain answer to it. Black politicians are held to a sharper standard than their white peers, and the readers who watched a Black candidate for governor leave the race deserve to know exactly who reported the story and how that conflict was handled. The court filing is where that answer will now have to be given. No hearing date has been reported.
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