BREAKING NEWS: Last night we received a ruling in Michael E. Mann's "the process is the punishment" lawfare against Mark relative to "Rule 54 Costs".
Rule 54 costs are meant to reimburse a prevailing party for court costs such as filing fees and transcription.
Mann was seeking $679,490 - the bulk of which was for alleged "digital storage" for what turned out to be an arm of his own lawyer's firm.
The judge cut Mann's request down to $67,686 jointly and severally from Mark and his co-defendant Rand Simberg. And, approximately 3k each against Mark and Rand separately. He also ordered Mann to pay $56,094 to co-defendant CEI for their rule 54 costs.
These are tied to liability and are appealable. If the DC jury's verdict is ultimately thrown out on appeal, then the cost award would be thrown out too.
We don't yet know the bottom line. At the moment, we still have a sanctions award Mann has been ordered to pay Mark - but that amount hasn't been ruled on. Also, Mark will be entitled to "fees on fees" - the cost of responding to Mann's objections to the sanctions against him for publishing false information to the jury. A number that continues to rise...
In other news, it was a busy week at SteynOnline with elections in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. We were proud to see our old friend Andrew Lawton elected to Parliament for Elgin—St. Thomas—London South.
Mark also introduced a new Tale for Our Time - Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K Jerome - which is a popular feature available to Mark Steyn Club members.
Speaking of members, we were honored to welcome many new and returning members:
Pierre from Manitoba:
Thank you for your great work and the incredible courage you have shown over the years...
Dan from Texas:
Keep going, Mark. You're a good man. Thanks for being a beacon of free speech and cultural enlightenment. The beautiful stories behind Edelweiss and Mack the Knife were highlights from the last year.
Elizabeth from New York:
You are the best source for news on the internet, Mark. I look forward every day to your columns. The music, tales, and poetry are a bonus equal in value to your politics and war commentaries....
And, from California, Janet writes:
Thank you, Mark, for your ever joyful resilience and dulcet tones.
Thank you and welcome to Pierre, Dan, Elizabeth, Janet and all our new and returning members from Alberta, Arizona, California, East Staffordshire, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, New South Wales, North Carolina, Pembrokeshire, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Quebec, Texas, and beyond.
Meanwhile, in case you missed it, here's how the rest of the week looked at SteynOnline:
~ Steyn's Song of the Week was dedicated to Mark's native homeland - "O Canada".
~ On Monday, Mark previewed a week of elections.
~ Mark's analysis the morning after the Canadian election - "Losers Gotta Lose" - was our most read piece of the week.
~ On Wednesday Mark returned to Clubland Q&A fielding questions from Mark Steyn Club members live around the planet. This week's show covered a range of topics from the Great Euro-Blackout to the name of Mark's paramilitary organisation. In case you missed it, the action replay is available here.
~ Laura Rosen Cohen was back on Thursday with her round-up of links from around the planet - including a word on "Arson Jihad".
~ On Friday, Mark "followed the science"...
~ In this week's edition of Mark Steyn On the Town, we celebrate the show's first birthday with an extended outing of our Non-Stop Number Ones and a special edition of our Sinatra Sextet.
~ And, Rick McGinnis was back Saturday night with his timely review of "Battle of Britain".
A new week begins later today with Steyn's Song of the Week at Serenade Radio at 5:30pm British Summer Time/ 12:30pm North American Eastern Time.
** Announcing THE MARK STEYN 2026 CRUISE - October 4th-11th, 2026 **
Join Mark and his special guests for a 7 Nights • Quebec City to New York cruise on Cunard's Queen Mary 2.
Ports of Call on this very special ship include Saguenay, Sept-Iles and Halifax.
You'll enjoy thoughtful discussions on the state of western civilization, analysis of political and cultural trends from the United States to the far reaches of the Commonwealth, and live editions of the features you've come to know and love from SteynOnline like Steyn's Song of the Week and Steyn's Sunday Poem.
For more information, please contact our exclusive booking partner: The Cruise & Vacation Authority at 1-844-340-3350, [email protected] or book here.