From Plagiarism to the Courtroom: Ambrose’s Tangled Web Begins to Unravel!
From Plagiarism to the Courtroom: Ambrose’s Tangled Web Begins to Unravel!
Christopher Ambrose Handed Massive Loss In CT Defamation Lawsuit Against Journalist Frank Parlato
By Richard Luthmann
Disgraced Hollywood plagiarist, clinically diagnosed psychopath, and alleged child molester Christopher Ambrose filed a defamation lawsuit last year against journalist Frank Parlato, publisher of Frank Report. Early last week, Ambrose’s case was handed a gigantic setback when Chief Connecticut Federal District Court Judge Michael P. Shea issued a ruling ensuring the case would not be heard in the “swamp” of the Connecticut state courts.
Ambrose may be sunk because now Parlato has a clear path to obtaining sworn, on-the-record testimony of the Ambrose teenagers, Mia (16), Matthew (16), and Sawyer (13). Ambrose had successfully kept their statements out of evidence in state court. But the Federal Rules of Evidence are a whole different ballgame.
Initially filed in Connecticut Superior Court in New Haven last July, serial litigator Ambrose made claims against Parlato, including invasion of privacy, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Ambrose, a suspended New York attorney, never had Parlato properly served with the papers at the time of filing. Parlato came upon the case while searching the Connecticut court dockets in December and promptly filed a Notice of Removal with the Superior Court and the Federal District Court in New Haven.
Federal law allows cases to be heard by federal courts where all the parties are from different states, and the amount in controversy is over $75,000. The basis for this “diversity of citizenship” jurisdiction is that out-of-state parties can’t get “home-towned” by local parties with connections to the local court system.
The move to federal court clearly favors Parlato. Ambrose is not the first would-be litigant who threatened the journalist. Westport Attorney Edward Nusbaum previously represented Karen Riordan, Ambrose’s ex-wife and the mother of the three teenagers, Mia, Matthew, and Sawyer.
Unhappy with Parlato’s truthful news coverage, Nusbaum’s collections lawyer, Alexander Trembicki, sent Parlato a threatening letter in January insinuating that the Connecticut state courts would make Parlato the next “Alex Jones,” a conservative broadcaster who was ordered to pay $965 million after he lost a defamation trial.
“We further demand that you cease and desist from the further publication of defamatory and libelous statements as to my client and the undersigned. Your failure to do so will cause us to review all of our legal options. You should note that Connecticut’s jury pool is not afraid to award damages to internet provocateurs who publish false and malicious information about their subjects. See William Sherlach et al v Alex Jones et al, UWY-CV18-6046437-S, pending in the Judicial District of Waterbury.”
Ambrose tried his best to keep the case from emerging from the New Haven state court “swamp,” but his arguments were not availing to Hartford-based Federal Court Judge Shea. Ambrose argued the removal was untimely. He said he attempted to serve Parlato in July 2022 by sending the complaint and summons via US Mail, and Parlato only had thirty days to ask for relief in federal court.
In his papers, Parlato swore he never received the legal paperwork, and Ambrose offered no proof otherwise. “Under the language of the statute, the period for removal is triggered by the defendant’s receipt of the initial pleadings,” Judge Shea said, finding the Notice of Removal timely filed.
Parlato’s papers also argued that the Court should strike or dismiss the complaint or transfer the case to Florida. Judge Shea directed Parlato to file a formal Rule 12 Motion to Dismiss Ambrose’s case on or before October 9, 2023. Discovery was stayed pending the filing of a Rule 12 motion.
The Merits of the Lawsuit
Ambrose’s 33-page complaint, referred to in Parlato’s court papers as a “lengthy, rambling, verbose, meandering document,” seeks monetary and equitable relief, including “[a]n order enjoining Parlato to immediately remove from TheFrankReport.com, artvoice.com and any other site/publication Parlato controls, including his Twitter and Instagram accounts, all false remarks and accusations concerning Plaintiff and all references to his minor children, including confidential information about them.”
The treatment of the Ambrose teenagers has been the subject of intense controversy and media scrutiny for over three years. The teenagers accuse Ambrose of sexual abuse and assault, reports of which have been substantiated by medical, law enforcement, and investigative sources.
As a journalist, Parlato and his media outlets enjoy strong legal protections, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press designed to protect the expression of opinions and the dissemination of newsgathering materials. Additionally, truth is an absolute defense to any claims of defamation.
“Every statement objectionable to Mr. Ambrose is either a non-actionable opinion or a true statement of fact. Mr. Parlato is not liable for any of the activity alleged by Mr. Ambrose. All of Mr. Parlato’s words and actions were part of his legitimate investigative, newsgathering, reporting, and publishing activity,” Parlato’s papers said.
In journalistic coverage spearheaded by Parlato, Frank Report, and ArtVoice, Ambrose’s contentious divorce, the alienation of their mother, Karen Riordan, Ambrose’s pattern of abusive and “psychopathic” actions, and the continuing harmful effects on the teenagers are newsworthy and have been covered by numerous other reporters and outlets, including Michael Volpe. Reporting has appeared online, in print, and on social media, from influencer Robbie Harvey’s TikTok to Substack posts.
Ambrose’s legal claims blame Parlato for nearly all the problems in the disgraced writer’s troubled life. But everything Parlato reported and continues to report is substantiated. We analyze three of Ambrose’s boldest claims that Parlato wrote about issues where there was no legal or journalistic basis to do so.
Claim: Ambrose Never Engaged In Plagiarism
“The false allegations that Plaintiff plagiarized are among the most often and tediously repeated by Parlato....[publishing Ambrose] had been ‘immediately fired for being a plagiarist.’...Those lies have caused Plaintiff great distress, but, as with the children, Plaintiff wants to spare his professional colleagues from any interaction with Parlato,” Ambrose says.
If Ambrose brought the plagiarism claims to court, he would lose.
The story of Instinct plagiarizing from Bones was widely publicized, including in CBS-owned TV Guide, which had to out its TV show reporting The Video Evidence That Instinct Ripped Off Bones Is Damning.
On April 3, two days after Secrets and Lies aired, Plagiarism Today (PT) reported Did Instinct Plagiarize Bones?
CinemaBlend wrote a story entitled CBS’ Instinct Accused Of Ripping Off Plotline From Fox’s Bones:
“The similarities had some fans online calling Instinct out for plagiarism, which is not something that Hollywood takes lightly.”
The Wrap wrote a story entitled, CBS crime drama has been accused of ripping off long-running Fox procedural:
“Sunday’s “Instinct” episode, titled “Secrets and Lies,” about the murder of an Amish teenager who moved to New York City, echoed a 2009 “Bones” episode dubbed “The Plain in the Prodigy”… The coincidence did not go unnoticed by eagle-eyed “Bones” fans.”
Quartz wrote: An unspeakable crime has been committed in the world of TV police procedurals.
“The Assailant: this week’s episode of the CBS police procedural, Instinct. The Victim: a 2009 episode of the Fox police procedural series Bones. The crime: Plagiarism…”
Plagiarism, in and among Hollywood writers, is a cardinal sin. No producer can ever trust the man who plagiarized.
VERDICT: There is ample evidence to conclude that Ambrose is a plagiarist. Parlato’s reporting is not untrue or malicious.
CLAIM: The Children Don’t Despise or Fear Ambrose
Ambrose’s papers say, “In most of the articles, Parlato falsely claims that the children despise or fear [Ambrose] or Parlato falsely attributes to them derogatory statements about [Ambrose].”
Ambrose’s allegations are baseless, while Parlato’s reporting is firmly rooted in facts.
Mia Ambrose told US Attorney Trini Ross about Ambrose, “It was constant fear at [Ambrose’s] home. I would say something wrong, and my father would follow me around and refuse to leave my room or get mad at the simplest things. His anger would go from one to 1,000 within a second. It was scary….”
Mia wrote another letter to Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas J. O’Neill, saying, “Chris is a constant threat...We are not victims of our mom, and we hope with this information you will let you see the truth, and remove the RO. If you won’t remove the RO, then we need to testify because it’s our right to testify and somehow Chris tricked you and you didn’t honor our right to be notified and to be heard.”
Matthew Ambrose has stated publicly, “We turned against him when he told my sister to kill herself, when he let my brother cut himself, and when he ripped us away from all of our family and friends who supported us...We aren’t safe with someone who tells us to kill ourselves, someone who lies constantly to everyone, someone who has molested my siblings, someone who isolates us from our loving family.”
And there are numerous other statements on this point, made directly by the Ambrose teenagers.
VERDICT: There is ample evidence to conclude that his children fear and despise Ambrose. Parlato’s reporting is not untrue or malicious.
Claim: Ambrose Does Not Sexually Molest His Children
Ambrose further claims, “Parlato maliciously and falsely published that [Ambrose] is a pedophile who sexually abused his own children.”
But Ambrose admits the Multi-Disciplinary Task Force at Yale New Haven Hospital made a report making disturbing disclosures of a sexual nature. Ambrose does not deny the information. Parlato’s reporting was initially based on the Yale Report and is not legally actionable.
Since then, overwhelming evidence from filed court documents and credible third parties has emerged regarding Ambrose’s pattern of child molestation.
In a recent recording of an interaction with the Mount Pleasant Police Department, Mia’s voice was firm: “I won’t return to [Christopher Ambrose]. I’d rather be anywhere but there.”
Her trauma is well-documented. Her father abused and molested her, threatening vaginal penetration for so-called “behavioral infractions,” including reporting his abuse to counselors and mental health professionals.
Mia’s statements are corroborated by many law enforcement, legal, and medical professionals.
TIFR obtained and published a June 6, 2023, e-mail from Mia’s attorney, Michael G. Curley, Esq., asking Connecticut DCF officials to release reports that” included allegations against Mia’s father, including a new accusation of penetration.”
TIFR previously published a Connecticut Court Risk Assessment from December 2020, wherein Court Attorney Allison Kass, Esq., determined Christopher Ambrose was HIGH RISK for potential danger to his children.
TIFR published an August 8, 2023, letter to Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas J. O’Neill from Dr. Bandy Lee, MD, M.Div., a clinical psychiatrist with over twenty-five years of experience. Not only did Dr. Lee come to the medical conclusion that Christopher Ambrose is a psychopath, but she also reported serious allegations of child molestation to the Connecticut Courts.
Dr. Lee also filed a Report of Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect for each of the Ambrose children. Her statements are unequivocal:
I have heard recordings of Mr. Ambrose’s threatening the daughter with vaginal penetration as punishment for minor misbehavior. All three children have reliably reported sexual abuse, and no one has believed them, frankly, because the father is so threatening, he has intimidated all witnesses (he has already been threatening to me, which I had to report to local police). The 12 (now 13)-year-old recently reported anal penetration.
We previously published statements from NYC Private Investigator Manuel Gomez.
He minces no words: “Mr. Ambrose molests his children,” and he told this to the FBI and US Attorney for the Western District of New York in a letter dated May 29, 2023.
All Ambrose children have filed Juvenile Court complaints in Connecticut alleging abuse, including sexual molestation, by their adoptive father, Christopher Ambrose.
The statements of professionals overwhelmingly corroborate the serious allegations of Christopher Ambrose’s child molestation. They have filed court documents and the statements and credible reports of the Ambrose teenagers.
VERDICT: There is overwhelming evidence to conclude that Ambrose is a child molester. Parlato’s reporting is not untrue or malicious.
Not Ambrose’s First Time Trying to Silence Parlato
Ambrose’s lawsuit selectively targets Parlato and his publications. And it isn’t the first time or the first forum. Earlier this year, Ambrose went to Connecticut state court in January and February to get a protective order. While the claim was nominally made against Riordan to protect the children’s privacy, the hearings before Superior Court Judge Eddie Rodriguez focused on how stories published in the Frank Report harmed Ambrose and the teenagers.
The children were not heard in these hearings (nor were they allowed to testify in August before Judge O’Neill), though two of them are 16. Their “spokesperson” was Ambrose.
Riordan asked the judge to allow the children to come to court so they could tell their story – at least the two 16-year-olds. Ambrose objected. The state court judge sided with Ambrose.
Ambrose mentioned the Frank Report 22 times in his motion for a protective order. During three days of hearings, he referred to the Frank Report perhaps a hundred times.
In addition to the harm Ambrose said his children experienced from stories in the Frank Report, he baldly stated under oath before Judge Rodriguez that the Frank Report stories made him “suicidal,” providing no contemporaneous medical evidence he sought professional treatment.
Judge Rodriguez didn’t buy that Frank Report was the culprit or that the mother was dangerous to her children and denied Ambrose’s motion to prevent the children from seeing their mother. Moreover, the Court confirmed that it did not have jurisdiction over Parlato or his publications, and even if it did, there was freedom of speech and freedom of the press issues.
Within 45 minutes of losing in court, Chris Ambrose e-mailed Parlato, claiming he and the mother, Karen Riordan, agreed they wanted Parlato to take down all his stories. Riordan was not copied to the e-mail.
Smelling something fishy, Parlato e-mailed Riordan asking whether she had made the demand, and he received this reply:
“You are correct. I did not know about nor did I approve the email sent by Chris Ambrose to you, whereby he claims we made a ‘United Parental Demand.’
“You’ll notice Chris Ambrose did not copy me in his email to you. He made a false representation in this email.
“Chris has made false representations in the past.
“He forged my signature on federal tax returns to conceal his earnings and deny me financial access to marital funds. He hacked my email account and sent an email in my name, falsely stating that I would settle a lawsuit, and took the money. He forged my initials on a real estate sales document.
As a reminder, Ambrose is an attorney licensed in the State of New York. His license is currently suspended.
Statements By the Litigants
Frank Parlato views Christopher Ambrose’s lawsuit as an opportunity to corral the former Hollywood fiction writer’s spurious claims once and for all.
Parlato believes Ambrose may be susceptible to an intense cross-examination session, particularly where the veteran investigative journalist asks all the questions. “The truth is always fair,” reads the FrankReport.com website.
We reached out to Christopher Ambrose. He did not respond as of press time.
Christopher Ambrose may have an uphill battle in federal court. He may have counted on some “hometown help” in state court.
Ambrose is a manipulator. But Ambrose’s loss of the Motion to Remand is catastrophic to his ability to “spin a tale.”
The aforementioned Attorney Edward Nusbaum had this to say in an e-mail to Ambrose’s former attorney, Nancy Aldrich:
“The Court process has empowered Chris, and [he] is using every opportunity to flex his muscles at the expense of the children and with a view toward creating a false narrative of what is really occurring. I would assume that the combination of being an NYU Law graduate and a fiction writer served him well…”
Thankfully for Parlato, the Ambrose teenagers, and the truth, the federal court can more readily cabin Christopher Ambrose’s favorite craft: “creating a false narrative of what is really occurring.”
If the facts are laid bare in federal court, it is questionable whether Christopher Ambrose - or his legal claims - will survive.
Richard Luthmann is a writer, commentator, and investigative journalist with degrees from Columbia University and the University of Miami. A transplanted New Yorker, Luthmann is a member of the National Writers Union now living in Southwest Florida.
Check him out on Muck Rack.
“I am a journalist who writes about justice, the courts, government officials, prisons, and reform. You find some questionable players in all these places and often outright crooks. Exposing these bottom feeders from the outside is sometimes the only way to make them pay the price for their injustice, misdeeds, and tyranny.”
“I often use satire and opinion to make my point. I have already been told to ‘stop writing about the Government’ by the U.S. Government, so I must be doing something right.”
“If you’re a victim of the system, maybe the press is the right forum for you. If you have experienced injustice and are tired of dropping tens of thousands of dollars without results, maybe it’s time to try the digital pen.”
Contact Richard Luthmann at 239-631-5957 or richard.luthmann@protonmail.com.
"Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.” (Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, more obscure than public opinion, and more deceptive than the whole political system.)
~ Marcus Tullius Cicero
The news media is a critical check on the powerful, serving as a watchdog to hold elected officials and other public figures accountable for their actions. The media was first called the Fourth Estate in 1821 by Edmund Burke, who wanted to point out the power of the press. The press plays a crucial role in providing citizens with access to information about what is happening in government and by shining a light on corruption, abuse of power, and other forms of wrongdoing.