I think the idea of the comment you replied to is that the people whose out-of-office messages these appear to be are being defamed through the appearance of being partisan, or more strongly through the appearance of violating the Hatch act.

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tantalor 12 hours ago | parent [-]

Oh gotcha. If they could show a harm, like financial loss, then it could be.

I think a close analogy would be if I send a letter, but sign your name. If a reasonable person would think you wrote the letter, then this might qualify as defamation. IANAL

	▲	anonymouskimmer 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> If they could show a harm, like financial loss, then it could be. IANAL, but I think directly writing a Hatch act violation on behalf of a person would fall under defamation per se, not defamation per quod, and thus harm would not have to be demonstrated. https://www.findlaw.com/injury/torts-and-personal-injuries/w...