Hank Hanegraaff

===2007 defamation suit===
Hanegraaff sued longtime critic William Alnor for alleging that Hanegraaff's fundraising was under investigation for [[Mail and wire fraud|mail fraud]]. The allegation was based on an incident of misdirected mail, which was followed by a January 2005 CRI fundraising letter saying the error might have caused "perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars" in donations to be lost.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/aprilweb-only/22.0a.html|title=Christian Research Institute Sues Longtime Critic: Hanegraaff says defamation must be answered.| magazine = [[Christianity Today]] | date = April 12, 2005}}</ref> The [[defamation]] lawsuit was thrown out based on [[California]]'s anti-[[Strategic lawsuit against public participation|SLAPP]] statute. The court found that although Alnor's statements regarding a mail fraud investigation were false, Hanegraaff was unlikely to prove "actual malice."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2007/may/6.19.html|title= News Briefs|magazine =Christianity Today | date = April 17, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-06 |title=Christian Research Institute v. Alnor ("Alnor I") {{!}} California Anti-SLAPP Project |url=https://www.casp.net/california-anti-slapp-first-amendment-law-resources/caselaw/california-courts-of-appeal-cases/christian-research-institute-v-alnor-alnor-i/ |access-date=2022-08-13 |language=en-US}}</ref>