Robert Eringer

Robert Eringer (born October 5, 1954) is an American author, blogger and journalist who lives in Santa Barbara, California. Eringer is known for writing an anti-Monaco blog, in which he expresses disapproval of the conduct of Prince Albert II of Monaco and numerous members of Prince Albert II’s staff. Salon described Eringer as an “obscure journalist” and "hapless freelance writer" who was associated with ties to the CIA via Clair George. While Eringer initially focused his blog on Monaco he now concentrates largely on Russia and Russian heads of state. He regularly publishes diatribes against the Russian government and Russian President Vladimir Putin on various blogs, websites, and Internet forums he maintains.

Biography

According to Salon, Eringer attended four colleges but never earned a degree. Prior to working as an independent contractor for Prince Albert II of Monaco, Eringer served as a freelance writer for the Santa Barbara News Press and several British tabloids, including News of the World. According to Salon, Eringer also wrote a handful of spy novels published by an obscure publishing house (National Press Books) and more obscure publishers in South Carolina. Eringer’s fiction drew no attention, “except from a few equally obscure reviewers and publicists, at least one of whom was paid to spam the Internet with disingenuous praise for Eringer’s books.”

Controversy

On January 18, 2004, the St. Petersburg Times retrospectively reported that Janice Pottker had filed a complaint against the Feld family, Clair George, and Robert Eringer in 1999, seeking $120 million for invasion of privacy, interference in business relationships, infliction of emotional distress, fraud, conspiracy and breach of contractual obligations. Pottker filed the lawsuit after discovering that Ken Feld, owner of Ringling Brothers, and Clair George, a consultant of Feld Entertainment and former deputy director of the CIA who was later condemned in the Iran-Contra scandal, paid Eringer to “ruin her career” and prevent Pottker’s investigative book critiquing the circus from being published. "I interviewed this man once in 1988, and I feel as if he's been stalking me ever since,” Pottker said of Eringer in news articles. Eringer expressed no remorse for his contribution to Pottker suffering from severe psychological disorders caused by his efforts to ruin her career. Instead, Eringer attacked Pottker on the website of Bedlam Bar & Restaurant, an establishment he ran, at the time, with his brother Michael. “Some lady has complained that she was fooled, that she was fooled for eight years, and that I personally sucked her brain of all its innermost secrets. Go figure. . . . The full story of how this lady Barnumized herself will one day be told.” According to the Washington Post, Bedlam Bar “offers free dessert to customers who can prove they’re insane or have spent time in an asylum.” Psychiatrist Marie-Jeanne Dubois has written a case-study on Robert Eringer and diagnosed him with narcissistic personality disorder.

Monaco

In 2002 Eringer secured a contract position with Prince Albert II of Monaco. In December 2007 Eringer was terminated from his post as Prince Albert II of Monaco’s intelligence adviser. Following his termination, Eringer became a full-time blogger and devoted himself to maintaining an anti-Monaco blog. He also filed a lawsuit in California demanding payment for the time frame of January to April 2008 from Prince Albert II. Eringer’s lawsuit was dismissed in August 2011 for lack of jurisdiction. The Court also ruled that “because all of Eringer’s services were governmental, employing him was not a commercial act exempt from FSIA immunity.” The Court therefore granted Monaco’s motion to dismiss. Eringer appealed the court's decision and on June 5, 2013 arguments for the appeal were heard by a panel of judges in Pasadena, California. According to a public recording of arguments for the case, Eringer’s attorney Brigham Ricks tried to persuade a panel of judges that the matter between Eringer and Prince Albert did not involve the government since Eringer worked through an intermediary, an argument the judges discounted and further asserted did not pass the “straight-face” test (a laugh test). The Principality's lawyers pointed out that the argument also conflicted with Eringer’s original deposition in which he stated under oath that he reported directly to and took orders only from Prince Albert. The judges further stated that it seemed “something else” was going on in this lawsuit that signaled more a mere claim for the recovery of cash; that it seemed possible one of the aims of the lawsuit was simply for Eringer to make public how unhappy he is with Prince Albert. One of the panel judges stated Eringer’s lawsuit seemed to be nothing more than an improper vehicle to try to spread trash about His Serene Highness, referring to a lengthy amount of “garbage” and “dirt” about the Prince lodged in the complaint that had nothing to do with commercial activity the action is purportedly about. A judge opined of the matter, “This lawsuit seems to me nothing more than an improper vehicle to try and spread trash about HSH. All these allegations in here that have nothing to do with commerce-—blackmail videos . . . stuff like that.” The judge stated that the matter looked like a case of, “We’re going to put all this garbage in here, you better pay me." According to a court judgment filed on July 10, 2013, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s original ruling against Eringer and in favor of the Principality of Monaco, and dismissed Eringer’s appeal. The court determined that “according to his own attorneys and affidavit, Eringer’s assignments” for the Principality were “not the type of employment private parties can undertake” and therefore fell within the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA). The case is now closed. In 2011, Prince Albert and several members of his staff brought lawsuits against Eringer, charging him with defamation and publication of false information. French media covered the news related to Eringer’s dispute with Prince Albert as well as Vladimir Putin, charging, among other assertions, that Eringer is prone to cyber stalking and may be suffering from narcissistic personality disorder. In 2011 Eringer was ordered by the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris to remove defamatory illustrations, photographs, and blog posts of and about Prince Albert II, lawyer Thierry Lacoste, chief of administration and accountant Claude Palmero, and chief of police André Muhlberger from his blog. Of the posts Eringer was forced to remove, several posts contained allegations that Prince Albert II’s staff was connected to Russian organized crime groups. In September 2012, the French justice system criminally convicted Eringer of public defamation and insult.