Glenn Beck Settles Boston Bombing Libel Suit Rather Than Go To Jail For Refusing To Name Alleged Sources

Politico reports:

Conservative media personality Glenn Beck and several related companies have reached an out-of-court settlement with a Saudi Arabian student Beck accused of involvement in financing the deadly 2013 bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Abdulrahman Alharbi sued Beck, his firms The Blaze and Mercury Radio Arts, as well as distributor Premiere Networks for defamation in federal court in Boston over his assertions that Alharbi—who was injured in the attack—served as “the money man” for the operation.

While numerous news organizations speculated publicly about Alharbi’s involvement, Alharbi’s suit filed in 2014 said Beck persisted in his statements even after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano publicly cleared the Saudi student of any role in the bombings.

The settlement was disclosed Tuesday in a brief order from U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris dismissing the case. No dollar amount was revealed. “The parties in this matter have reached a settlement of the pending action. The terms of the settlement are confidential,” both sides in the suit said in a joint statement.

Beck had claimed that naming his alleged sources might get them killed. The judge in the case was reportedly considering sanctions including a possible jail term when the settlement was announced.