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January 23, 2020

Tulsi Gabbard files $50-million (and counting) defamation suit against Hillary

By Andrea Widburg

On Wednesday, Democrat presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard filed a defamation suit against Hillary Clinton in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The suit was based upon the fact that, in an October 17, 2019 interview with David Plouffe, Hillary asserted that the Russians were acting as spoilers for the Democrats by "grooming" one of the Democrats' then-multitudinous candidates to launch a third-party presidential run.  "They know [Trump] can't win without a third-party candidate."

When the words left Hillary's mouth, it would have been reasonable to assume she was referring to Bernie, the man who honeymooned in the Soviet Union and is an open and proud socialist.  Almost immediately afterward, though, Hillary made clear that she was referring to a woman, not a man:

I'm not making any predictions but I think they [the Kremlin] have got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate.  She's the favorite of the Russians. ... They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.

Although there were five women running at the time, Tulsi was the obvious suspect, for she had been accused before of being too close to the Russians, based upon her 2017 trip to meet Syrian president Bashar Assad.  This was confirmed by Hillary's spokesman, Nick Merrill, who, when asked whether Hillary was referring to Tulsi, answered, "If the nesting doll fits..."

Tulsi immediately fired back:

Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a ...

... concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and ...

... powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It's now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don't cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.

Tulsi also put out a campaign video saying she'd been warned back in 2016 that Hillary would take revenge against her for having endorsed Bernie:

 

 

With the complaint, Tulsi shows that Hillary's accusation still rankles.  The suit explains that Tulsi knew that it was risky to endorse Bernie.  As for Hillary, well...

Clinton — a cutthroat politician by any account — has never forgotten this perceived slight. And in October 2019, she sought retribution by lying, publicly and loudly, about Tulsi Gabbard. Specifically, in widely disseminated national comments, Clinton falsely stated that Tulsi — an Army National Guard officer and United States Congresswoman who has spent her entire adult life serving this country — is a "Russian asset." Clinton's false assertions were made in a deliberate attempt to derail Tulsi's presidential campaign.

Tulsi claims that her present, actual damages are "$50 million — and counting."  She also seeks punitive damages.

As a public figure, Tulsi is going to have a hard time bringing any defamation suit because there's wide latitude for speaking ill about famous people.  However, her lawsuit claims that Hillary was not just bad-mouthing someone she disliked.  Instead, according to Tulsi, Hillary knew that her allegation was false and intended that it be received in a profoundly negative light, that Hillary acted with actual malice, that the statements spread like wildfire, and that Tulsi's reputation was destroyed.

The first three allegations will be interesting should they reach trial.  However, given Tulsi's left-leaning politics, it's hard to say whether Hillary's statement destroyed or enhanced her reputation among the base she has to reach in order to win.

And of course, there's the inevitable Hillary joke:

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