He is Suing Me
I cover other people’s lawsuits for a living. I also cover my own. This one is mine.
Christopher Ambrose is suing me. In federal court for defamation. I have written a number of stories about him. Mostly about how he won custody of his three teenage children and kept all the marital funds depriving his wife of 18 years of her assets and their three children of their mother.
He is suing me for the second time for defamation. The first time in 2023, a judge dismissed the case.
But Ambrose is not singling me out for lawsuits. He is suing several others. And some others are suing him.
He is Suing Dr. Lee
Dr. Bandy X. Lee
Dr. Bandy Lee is a pyschiatrist. He is suing Dr. Lee for defamation.
His main complaint is that Dr. Lee once wrote that based on her personal observations of him, emails to her initiated by Ambrose prior to any publication, interviews of his family, including his daughter, Mia Ambrose, interviews of medical and investigative professionals, review of hospital and medical records, and his voluminous court filings that in her professional opinion, and according to the Hare Psychopathy test, Ambrose qualified for a diagnosis of psychopathy.
Dr. Lee’s findings:
On his dangerous nature and the specific risk to children:
“Separating growing children from their mother and primary caregiver is one of the worst forms of abuse… and can be a sign of this dangerous personality disorder.”
“This potential for Mr. Ambrose’s dangerousness, especially where children are involved, should not be overlooked.”
On his manipulative behavior and inability to be truthful:
“…it is a common characteristic of psychopathic individuals to mislead, cheat, or otherwise violate the rights of other people.”
“They, through a superficially-charming presentation, are often capable of eliciting exceptional levels of sympathy from others as an effective means of escaping accountability for their violence*for example, they may recruit others as ‘patrons’ or ‘pawns’ to help them turn the narrative around to incriminating their victims instead.”
On the clinical assessment and its results:
“…yielded results that make it highly likely and reasonably reliable that (Ambrose) suffers from psychopathy.”
“Mr. Ambrose’s score adds up to 32. This is strongly suggestive that a diagnosis of psychopathy is present and justified—or, at the very least, that disturbing levels of psychopathic features are present.”
He Appears to Have Misled Court
In his lawsuit against Dr. Lee, the plaintiff, Christopher Ambrose, asked the court for a special privilege: the right to sue for free, to be declared so destitute that he could not afford the $405 filing fee. To obtain this status, he had to swear to the truth of his financial circumstances. He had to sign his name to a document, inviting the court to trust him.
There are some serious falsehoods in that affidavit:
Rent: Swore under oath he pays $2,450 per month. His signed lease proves he pays $3,750.
Ambrose misstated his rent for this $2 million home he rents. He pays $3750, but told the court he pays $2400.
Dependents: Claimed his 18-year-old daughter, Mia, was a dependent and full-time student living with him. She states she moved out in July 2024, lives in another state, and is not in school.
Dependents: Claimed his 18-year-old son, Matthew, was a dependent and full-time student. School records show he had formally withdrawn four days before the affidavit was signed.
Government Benefits: Wrote “I just learned I am eligible for SNAP.” State records show he had already been receiving SNAP benefits for four months.
SNAP Fraud: He is allegedly receiving SNAP benefits for a 4-person household that includes Mia, who does not live with him. This is now under investigation for potential fraud.
Assets: Undervalued his car by 35-60%, claiming it was worth $4,539 when its market value is estimated between $7,000-$11,000.
Assets: Claimed to be depleting a “modest” 401(k) but omitted that he likely controls multiple investment accounts with a seven-figure balance, using advanced financial strategies.
Assets: Completely omitted his expected inheritance of approximately $800,000 from his parents’ $2.5 million estate, which is currently in probate.
Ambrose also failed to disclose that he has a company Eyes Above Productions in California that continues to collect residuals for his previous TV work. Ambrose claimed he has no income whatsoever.
All of these statements were made under penalty of perjury on a federal form to avoid a $405 court filing fee by claiming extreme financial hardship. The court can dismiss his lawsuit if it finds these misrepresentations material. US District Court Judge Sarala B. Nagala, a former prosecutor, is presiding in the case.
He is Suing a Woman With Life-Threatening Illness
Ambrose is suing another blogger, a woman with cancer (wholly unaffiliated with Frank Report) who wrote a story on her blog about him in 2023. The blogger took down the article after receiving a cease and desist demand from Ambrose threatening a defamation lawsuit. The blogger would not issue a public apology and say the story was untrue. Ambrose has filed a defamation lawsuit, but the docket does not indicate that service of process has been completed.
He is Suing His Brothers
Ambrose is suing both of his brothers – Colin Ambrose and Neil Ambrose – over his parent’s estate.
Colin Ambrose
Colin Ambrose is the Chief Investment Officer of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, a major health legacy foundation with $3.7 billion in assets which it uses to award grants to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable communities in New York State. His apparent position is that his brother Neil painstakingly cared for their parents during their decade-long illnesses, while Chris rarely, if ever, saw them.
Neil Ambrose is a successful attorney in New Haven with the law firm Letizia, Ambrose & Falls.
Attorney Neil Ambrose
Neil Ambrose’s practice focuses on defending workers’ compensation claims. He is a member of the Workers’ Compensation Chairman’s Legal Advisory Panel, the New Haven County Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association Workers’ Compensation and Employment Law Sections, and the American Bar Association. Neil Ambrose was a member of the first class of attorneys to be board certified by the Connecticut Bar Association as a specialist in workers’ compensation.
Ambrose Was Cost-Conscious Looking to Preserve Inheritance
Chris Ambrose
Ambrose family members say that Christopher Ambrose always recommended the most cost-efficient health care and low-cost housing for his parents so as not to dissipate the estate while they were living. They say the younger brothers, Neil and Colin, pushed back, arguing that it was their parents’ money and that their care required expenditures during their lifetime for their comfort.
The amount in dispute in the lawsuit is little more than $30,000 for Chris Ambrose. Observers believe the suit may have more to do with discrediting Neil and taking control of the estate than the money. Chris claims that Neil, who established a bank account at the direction of his father to care for his wife (whom he predeceased) and who suffered from Alzheimer’s, did not optimize the interest the bank would pay. Chris alleges this resulted in a monetary loss of around $95,000 in unrealized potential interest over several years.
Other family members have all expressed admiration for Neil Ambrose’s remarkable devotion and care of his elderly parents, noting that the eldest, Chris, basically ceased visiting his parents during their illness. They believe that without Neil, their last years would have lacked proper care.
“Chris tried to act like he cared for his parents but he never tried to see them. He used to lie and say he was going to see his mother as a regular excuse for other activities. My brother and I caught him several times telling people he was visiting his mother ‘in hospice; when we knew for a fact he was home,” his 18-year-old daughter, Mia, told Frank Report.
Sibling Rivalry
It might be understandable that Chris Ambrose has more interest in fighting his brothers over what amounts to about 1.5 percent of their parents’ estate. Both of his younger brothers have forged successful careers while Chris Ambrose’s career ended in disgrace.
Christopher Ambrose also had at one time a successful career in TV script writing. In 2018, he got caught up in a plagiarism scandal and his career ended. It made headlines in Readers Digest and many other publications. Plagiarism Today wrote an indepth analysis. He has not worked in TV since 2018. In his lawsuit against Dr. Lee he filed a sworn statement that he has no income and no assets.
He Sued His Son’s Godmother
Michelle Pawlina
Ambrose also sued Michelle Pawlina because she gave an interview to Frank Report in 2022.
Michelle Pawlina, the godmother to one of Ambrose’s children, gave an interview to Frank Report detailing how Ambrose reacted with extreme, furious aggression, screaming at her to get off his property and threatening to call the police simply for delivering gifts to her godson. During the encounter, Pawlina observed that his daughter appeared deeply depressed, fearful, and “brutalized.”
Later that evening, police arrived at Pawlina’s door to serve her with a formal trespass warning because Ambrose had filed a report against her. The interview portrays Ambrose as an unhinged and controlling individual who is systematically alienating his children from their loved ones, using legal threats and intimidation to maintain total isolation. Pawlina, a psychiatric nurse and mandated reporter, expressed grave concern for the children’s mental and physical well-being under his sole care.
Ambrose sued Pawlina for defamation in Connecticut Superior Court. There were extensive legal motions and significant costs incurred by Pawlina in defending the lawsuit.
Ultimately CT Superior Court Judge Robin Lynn Wilson dismissed Ambrose’s case against Pawlina with prejudice – meaning he cannot sue Pawlina again on the same issue.
CT Superior Court Judge Robin Lynn Wilson
Judge Wilson found:
“Instead of complying with court orders, by filing a formal revised complaint in accordance with the requested revisions, and the rules of practice, the plaintiff filed an objection to defendant’s motion for order in which he gives numerous excuses that are totally irrelevant as to why after seven months he still has not filed a revised complaint. Attached to plaintiff’s objection is a purported revised complaint, however, the complaint still contains allegations which defendant requested be revised and/or deleted. Plaintiffs conduct shows a deliberate, contumacious and unwarranted disregard for the court’s authority.
“The plaintiff is very intelligent and quite articulate, and while he is appearing as a self-represented party, he has been able to navigate himself reasonably well through the litigation process. The plaintiff’s failure to file a revised complaint, therefore, has not been due to his inability to do so.”
Others Are Suing Him
Pawlina’s attorney, George Bourguignon is suing Ambrose for false statements he made about him to the courts. Judge Angelica Papastavros is hearing the case.
Ambrose’s divorce and custody lawyer Nancy Aldrich sued him for non-payment of $64,000 in legal fees.
Nancy Aldrich, a former attorney of Chris Ambrose
Journalist Richard Luthmann is suing him for making false statements to federal officials. Luthmann wrote in his complaint about Ambrose:
Defendant CHRISTOPHER AMBROSE (“Ambrose”) is an attorney admitted to practice law in the State of New York. Ambrose is a disgraced Hollywood writer and plagiarist, an NYU Law graduate, and a molester of children. He has an affinity for “Latin Boyz.” He has three adopted Hispanic children, all of whom have made credible and substantiated allegations of abuse against Ambrose, a white Connecticut elite with connections to the Democratic National Committee and Bill and Hillary Clinton. He is a clinically diagnosed “psychopath.”
Ambrose’s former landlord, Maureen Luden sued him for non-payment of rent at his old address on Horsepond Rd in Madison, CT. NHH-CV-24-6023606-S. He left without paying the rent.
And just t0 be clear- Luden is not the landlord of his current residency – which is the Maureen Johnson family trust- a $2.2 million beach house in Madison where he presently lives and pays $3,750 per month in rent. It is of interest because in his lawsuit against Bandy Lee he applied to the judge for in pauperis status – saying he could not afford the $400 plus to file. As I reported earlier, he did not state the truth on his financial affidavit – claiming to Judge under penalty of perjury that his rent is $2400.
His Children Have Decried His Abuse
All three of the Ambrose children, two of them now 18, and one 15, have signed affidavits that for years Ambrose has emotionally and psychologically abused them, and sexually abused two of them.
Back to His Lawsuit Against Me
But now we are talking about me — Ambrose’s lawsuit against me is for defamation. This is a good development because now we have a new way to determine the truth – the power of discovery and sworn testimony. He says I lied about him in my articles and now we have a method to get to the truth.
Ambrose is representing himself. He is a lawyer but the New York Unified Court System website says he was suspended from law practice on November 13, 2006, by the Appellate Division for a Violation of the Judiciary Law.
For my part, I will probably retain a lawyer. In fact I expect to retain a recently retired deputy US Attorney with 35 years of federal prosecution under his belt. He knows what, if any, federal crimes Ambrose has committed and will be able, if Ambrose has committed any crimes, to refer them to the appropriate authorities.
