Sinclair’s David Smith threatens to sue Wes Moore as feud intensifies

David Smith, the owner of The Baltimore Sun and executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, has threatened to sue Maryland Gov. Wes Moore over comments he made in a television interview last month, escalating a feud between the two camps.

In the June 16 MS NOW interview, Moore, a Democrat, said Smith “was invested in by Jeffrey Epstein,” the New York financier whom federal prosecutors charged in 2019 with sex trafficking of minors. Epstein died by suicide in jail later that year, and the investigation into his activities and connections has become a focal point for Republicans and Democrats.

An attorney for Smith sent Moore and his communications staff a letter on June 29 demanding that Moore retract his statement and apologize, as Smith had “no relationship with ... Epstein, much less an investment relationship,” according to a copy reviewed by The Banner. The letter went on to say that Smith reserved the right to sue Moore for defamation.

Investment firms that Epstein controlled purchased shares of Sinclair Broadcast Group at various points, according to records released by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a response letter dated July 14, attorneys for Moore told Smith that the governor would continue to exercise his First Amendment rights to “make his views known to constituents.”

“It is absolutely true that Jeffrey Epstein invested in Mr. Smith’s business, namely in Sinclair Broadcast Group,” Moore attorney Joseph Sandler wrote.

A spokesperson for Moore declined to comment further. Smith’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The exchange of correspondence was first reported by Semafor.

For months, Smith’s media properties in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., area have broadcast and published reports reviewing Moore’s biography and record, with a sharp focus on his military service. Moore and his wife, Dawn Moore, have slammed that coverage as politically motivated.

Smith has been copied on emails between reporters and the governor’s office, according to documents reviewed by Semafor.

Smith, a Baltimore County resident, once told President Donald Trump that Sinclair’s stations — the company owns 177 TV stations around the country — were “here to deliver your message.”

More recently, Smith’s flagship station, Baltimore’s Fox45, aired a series of stories critical of the city school system and later highlighted a lawsuit against the schools that seemed to be spurred by the station’s reporting.

Years later, The Banner revealed that Smith was secretly funding the lawsuit through a shell corporation and had final say over how the plaintiffs proceeded. Those ties were not disclosed to Fox45 viewers.

Smith has donated heavily to challengers to Mayor Brandon Scott — whom his stations also cover critically — and has bankrolled petition campaigns to remake the city’s charter.

In one instance, Smith successfully funded a campaign to impose term limits at City Hall. Other campaigns, like one to shrink the size of Baltimore’s City Council, did not pass.