Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has dropped her defamation lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, citing her need to focus on the coronavirus pandemic and defeating President Trump in the 2020 election.
“While they remain certain of the action’s legal merit, they are just as certain that this new COVID and post-COVID world require them to focus their time and attention on other priorities, including defeating Donald Trump in 2020, rather than righting the wrongs here,” Gabbard’s attorneys said of the Hawaii Democrat and her presidential campaign committee in a court filing Wednesday.
Gabbard, who ran in the 2020 Democratic primary but dropped out in March, filed suit in January, alleging Clinton damaged her reputation by claiming last year that she was “a favorite of the Russians.”
“She is a favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. That’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she is also a Russian asset,” Clinton told the Campaign HQ podcast October.
Gabbard accused the former secretary of state of being “a cutthroat politician” who acted out of “malicious intent” because, she alleged, Clinton was upset she supported Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential primary.
“Tulsi is not a Russian asset. No one — Russia or anyone else — controls her or her presidential campaign,” the lawsuit said. “The defamatory statements are defamatory because they tend to lead the average person in the community to form an evil or bad opinion of Tulsi, as well as because they tend to discredit Tulsi in the conduct of her occupation, profession, and office.”
The complaint noted that Gabbard has never had her security clearances challenged or revoked, nor have law enforcement or intelligence agencies backed Clinton’s claim.
“If Tulsi was truthfully a ‘Russian asset,’ she would not have been in these positions of great responsibility with access to the most sensitive national security information, and working closely with officials at the highest levels in the United States military, including the commander of the United States Pacific Command,” the lawsuit said.
Gabbard sought $50 million in damages and an injunction banning further publication of Clinton’s statements.
