Yeah, I'm kind of curious about that myself.
IDI's aren't too willing to touch that one.
Mysteri if I recall addressed that -- if the R's felt Tom said something defamatory and if their attorneys advised them to file suit
wiki has some material on defamation lawsuits leveled against foster
Ramsey murder case
In 1997, Foster became involved in the investigation of JonBenét Ramsey's murder, a case in which a ransom note played a significant role. At one point he apparently believed that an Internet poster who posed as the killer using the alias "jameson" was JonBenet's half-brother, unaware that Jameson had already been identified by law enforcement as a North Carolina housewife, and dismissed as a "code six wingnut" by the FBI. Believing he had solved the mystery, that jameson was John Andrew and that John Andrew was the killer, Foster wrote privately to JonBenet's parents to offer his services in exonerating them of suspicion. A document purporting to be this letter has been published, but Foster declines to acknowledge it and is reticent about his involvement in the case. In a review of Foster's book Author Unknown, Adam Liptak tweaked him by using a textual analysis argument to conclude that Foster was in fact the author of that document.
His emails and letter to Patsy and John Ramsey proclaiming their innocence were verified carefully before they were made public. Also available to participants in the investigation are tapes of telephone conversations that prove Foster did, indeed, get very involved, not only clearing the Ramseys as he accused jameson, but changing sides later when he was working for the Boulder Police, working to help guide the Grand Jury to indict Patsy for the murder of her daughter.
Foster was afterwards hired by Boulder police to conduct analysis of the ransom note, and in this context he came to re-examine Patsy's involvement. He cited her habit of creating acronyms (the note was signed with the mysterious acronym SBTC) and said that she changed a number of habits in her handwriting after being shown a copy of the note. In a book about the investigation, the lead detective wrote that Foster had told him his conclusion that the ransom note had been written by Patsy. In the end, that detective, Steve Thomas, was sued for the content of his book and declined the opportunity to defend same in court.[citation needed]
[edit] Anthrax case
Foster returned to advise the FBI during the investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks. He later wrote an article for Vanity Fair about his investigation of Steven Hatfill, a virologist who had been labeled a "person of interest" by Attorney General John Ashcroft. In an October 2003 article for Vanity Fair, Foster tried to match up Hatfill's travels with the postmarks on the anthrax letters, and analyzed old interviews and an unpublished novel by Hatfill about a bioterror attack on the United States. Hatfill was identified as a possible culprit. The Reader's Digest published a condensed version of the article in December 2003.
Hatfill subsequently sued Donald Foster, Condé Nast Publications, Vassar College, and The Reader's Digest Association, seeking $10 million in damages, claiming defamation. The case was settled. Donald Foster ceased any public discussion of the case.
