California lawmakers join fight against TMZ

It's certainly been rough sailing for Harvey Levin and his boys in the TMZ tub as they get closer to the September 10th premiere of the syndicated TMZ TV show. And while Fox has got stations around the country running a misleading informational that promotes the show as some kind of truth-seeking Front Page newsroom operation, the real TMZ and its nasty, bitchy celeb-baiting tactics are taking a battering on all fronts.

And now the California legislature has joined the mob to deliver a few well-placed kicked to TMZ's rotting head.

Thanks in part to the corporate porn-pushing gossip site's mysterious acquisition of information regarding Mel Gibson's drunk driving tirade and its palm-greasing tactics in its attempts to get photos of Paris Hilton sitting on her jail cell toilet, lawmakers are cracking down on checkbook journalism. A bill making its way through the California legislature would make it a crime for law enforcement or court employees to profit by releasing confidential information gathered in criminal investigations or unauthorized photographs of people in custody.

Thanks a lot, Harvey!

The investigation is continuing into the leaking of police documents to TMZ in the Mel Gibson case (see our earlier story here). So far, they've not traced the money trail to TMZ after the site got hold of the arresting deputy's account of Mel's ant-Semitic tirade. And we all know that those kind of scoops don't come cheap.

This morning's offensive TMZ headline (and its only 8 am):

Clay Aiken: Bringing Sexy Barf

Keep track of our TMZ coverage here.