Presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is planning to stick to Hillary Clinton, and I hope she succeeds!
The congresswoman is suing the former Secretary of State for defamation following her comments on a podcast that painted Gabbard as a Russian asset. Her lawyers said the Clinton's accusations "smeared" the lawmaker's "political and personal reputation."
The lawsuit was officially filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Brian Dunne, Gabbard's lawyer said, “Tulsi Gabbard is a loyal American civil servant who has also dedicated her life to protecting the safety of all Americans."
“Rep. Gabbard’s presidential campaign continues to gain momentum," he continued, "but she has seen her political and personal reputation smeared and her candidacy intentionally damaged by Clinton’s malicious and demonstrably false remarks.”
The Hill reports:
In response to the lawsuit, Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said "that's ridiculous."
In a podcast released in October, Clinton said she thought Republicans were "grooming" a Democratic presidential candidate for a third-party bid. She also described the candidate as a favorite of the Russians.
Clinton did not name the candidate, but it was clear she was speaking about Gabbard.
"They're also going to do third-party. I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on somebody who's currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate," Clinton said, "She's the favorite of the Russians, they have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far, and that's assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not, because she's also a Russian asset. Yeah, she's a Russian asset, I mean totally. They know they can't win without a third-party candidate."
Stein was the Green Party candidate in the 2016 presidential election. Stein said the idea she is a Russian asset is an "unhinged conspiracy theory" in an October op-ed for The Guardian.
The lawsuit describes Clinton as a “cutthroat politician” and claims that she “sought retribution” for Gabbard endorsing Bernie Sanders in 2016, which was Clinton's primary opponent for the presidential run. Funnily enough, Gabbard now faces Bernie in the Democratic primaries for 2020.
“Clinton’s false assertions were made in a deliberate attempt to derail Tulsi’s presidential campaign,” the lawsuit continues, “Tulsi brings this lawsuit to ensure that the truth prevails and to ensure this country’s political elites are held accountable for intentionally trying to distort the truth in the midst of a critical Presidential election."
Personally, I hope she takes Clinton down....or at least down a few notches.
