EXCLUSIVE: Lawyers in Caylan Ford case allege "anti-hate" expert's "financial interest" leads to bias
Ford's lawyer argued Dr. Barbara Perry's government-funded extremism research and media work raise questions about whether her testimony can be truly impartial.
A lawyer representing former United Conservative Party candidate Caylan Ford argued Monday that a prominent taxpayer-funded “hate expert” has a financial incentive to identify extremism, challenging whether years of government grants and paid media appearances undermine the impartiality of her testimony in Ford’s $7.65 million defamation trial.
The exchange unfolded as the plaintiff’s counsel Richard Harrison questioned whether prominent anti-hate academic Dr. Barbara Perry has a financial interest in identifying extremism that could influence her opinions.
The argument strikes at one of the central issues in the case: whether academic “hate experts” relied upon by major media outlets offer objective analysis or operate within a system that rewards the identification of extremism.
