US Judge's Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed Over "QAnon-Linked" Label

US District Judge Joshua Wolson has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Judge Paula Patrick against The Daily Beast over an article headline that stated she was "linked" to the conspiracy group QAnon. The judge ruled that Patrick had not shown the report was the product of "actual malice," a legal threshold needed to sustain an allegation that a news reporter knew information was false and published it anyway. Patrick has denied any linkage to QAnon, whose adherents cast Donald Trump as a savior figure.