2020 presidential long shot Rep. Tulsi Gabbard isn’t backing down from her defamation lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Gabbard, who is currently running for the Democratic presidential nomination, filed the suit in January, alleging Clinton’s insinuation that she is a “Russian asset” harmed her “reputation and ongoing presidential campaign.” During a Fox Business interview with Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday morning, Gabbard provided an update on where the suit stands.
“The papers have been served. I think the first court date has been set, and I think it’s important to understand that, you know, this is not just another political thing where one person said this — the other person said that,” the Hawaii Democrat, who is seeking $50 million in damages, explained.
“The accusation that Hillary Clinton has made really devalues the very essence of who I am,” she said. “This is about my life, and this is about the oath of loyalty and service, willingness to lay down one’s life for our country, that every single one of our servicemen and women make, and I am not willing to stand by to allow her or any of her powerful allies and partners to take such an action, which is why I filed this lawsuit.”
The lawsuit came in response to comments Clinton made during an October podcast when she claimed Gabbard was a “Russian asset” and that the Kremlin was pushing her to run as a third-party candidate to ensure President Trump’s reelection by splitting the vote between her and the Democratic nominee.
“They are also going to do third party again, and I’m not making any predictions, but I think they got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate,” the former presidential candidate said. Clinton also later claimed that 2016 Green Party nominee Jill Stein was “also a Russian asset.”
Facing backlash afterward, Clinton claimed she meant that it was Republicans who were “grooming Tulsi, not Russia.”
Gabbard is a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard and serves on the House Armed Services and Financial Services Committees. Previously, she was a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Homeland Security Committee.
