Peter Zuckerman has played many parts in Portland: Oregonian reporter, partner of former Mayor Sam Adams, author of a book on Himalayan Sherpas, and spokesman for last year's ballot campaign to legalize recreational pot.

Last week, Zuckerman closed another chapter in his life: He settled a lawsuit filed against him in 2014 by Idaho's powerful Republican donor Frank VanderSloot.

Zuckerman wrote stories in 2005 for the Post-Register in Idaho Falls about a pedophile in the Boy Scouts. VanderSloot attacked Zuckerman with full-page newspaper ads—and then sued Zuckerman for how he described the fallout in an interview on The Rachel Maddow Show.

Zuckerman signed a negotiated apology to VanderSloot on Oct. 19.

"It's been an adventure," Zuckerman tells WW, and declined further comment.

VanderSloot, who had a related lawsuit against Mother Jones magazine tossed by a judge Oct. 6, has announced he's starting a "Guardian of True Liberty Fund" to protect conservative political figures from defamation by liberal media.

The legal costs of the combined VanderSloot cases? More than $2.5 million.