Bishops scheduled to appear in court over defamation lawsuit

During a 2024 broadcast of "Our Defending Fathers," Randy Bishop's conservative talk radio program, he told his listeners an Onaway businessman, Tom Moran "shipped in illegal immigrants" to work at his metal fabrication business. Moran sued Bishop and the radio station for defamation. The radio station airing the comments was owned by Antrim County Clerk Victoria Bishop, who has recently come under scrutiny from the Michigan Bureau of Elections for making illegal changes to the state's Qualified Voter File (QVF). Her access to the QVF was recently revoked by the bureau. The Bishops are also under investigation from the Michigan State Police for a February incident where a member of the Antrim County custodial staff saw Trucker Randy at Victoria's computer unsupervised. The Bishops have refused to cooperate with the courts in their defamation lawsuit and have spoiled evidence pertaining to the case. This prompted Judge Aaron Gauthier [gaw-THeer] of Cheboygan’s 53rd circuit court to enter a default judgment, holding Trucker Randy and Victoria Bishop’s radio station liable for defamation. This week, jurors will decide how much in damages will be awarded to Tom Moran and his business. Also in this episode, Kate Grumke from Harvest Public Media tells us about the re-emersion of the serviceberry or Juneberry.