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Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. said Tuesday that he was asking the FBI to investigate what he called a "criminal" smear campaign orchestrated against him by several former members and board members dissatisfied.
Falwell told The Associated Press that he had evidence that the group had mis-shared university-owned emails with reporters with the aim of discrediting him. He said the "coup attempt" was partly motivated by his strong support of President Trump.
Falwell, at the head of the country's most prominent evangelical college, was one of the first Christian conservatives to support Trump's campaign.
His allegations come after Monday's publication of an article in Politico magazine, according to which Falwell allegedly "presided over a culture of insider trading" at Liberty, which would have unduly benefited him and his family. The cited story describes anonymous sources described as being former or former officials or associates of Falwell.
"I'm not going to give an answer to the lies that were reported yesterday, but I'm going to the authorities and to a civil court," Falwell said, calling the journalist "little boy."
He added that Liberty had hired "the worst lawyer in New York", which he did not want to identify, to sue civilians. Falwell also refused to identify the people who he said were spreading emails.
Falwell is the son of the late Evangelist, founder of Liberty and leader of the Moral Majority, Reverend Jerry Falwell. He has recently undergone a thorough review of his personal life and commercial investments, including his involvement with a youth hostel in Miami.
Hill reported Tuesday that Falwell had requested an FBI investigation. Falwell said he contacted the FBI last week after he learned that journalists had contacted Liberty employees about emails he claimed were stolen.
"Liberty has each of these emails. This is our property. They worked for us when they used our server. And our policies clearly indicate that every email sent to our server belongs to Liberty. If someone is sharing with people outside Liberty, it is a robbery. And so it's the underlying crime, "Falwell told AP in a phone interview.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.
Nick Akerman, an expert in cybercrime, said Falwell's assertion regarding a criminal plot was "completely crazy." Akerman said former board members and employees could share emails with reporters as long as they had access to them and that they were not hacking someone's account. d & # 39; other. He added that trade secrets were also protected by law, but that Liberty could not plead in his favor either.
"I do not think that a law enforcement agency will be interested in this one," said Akerman, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney and former federal prosecutor.
Liberty, based in Lynchburg, Virginia, was founded in 1971 by Falwell's father, who had only 154 students. It now has more than 100,000 registrations, including those from its extensive online education program. It has become a pole of influence of conservative politics, frequented by candidates who woo evangelical voters.
Falwell was an early and ardent defender of Trump, who created a break on campus during the presidential campaign and has been controversial ever since.
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