2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard filed a scathing legal complaint against Hillary Clinton, accusing her party’s 2016 presidential nominee of “lying, publicly and loudly” by calling her a Russian asset.
“Tulsi Gabbard is running for president of the United States, a position Clinton has long coveted, but has not been able to attain,” lawyers for Gabbard said in the complaint. “In October 2019 — whether out of personal animus, political enmity, or fear of real change within a political party Clinton and her allies have long dominated — Clinton lied about her perceived rival Tulsi Gabbard.”
They continued: “In short, Clinton got exactly what she wanted by lying about Tulsi — she harmed her political and personal rival’s reputation and ongoing presidential campaign, and started a damaging whisper campaign based on baseless, but vicious, untruths.”
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said it aims to hold Clinton and other “political elites” accountable “for distorting the truth in the middle of a critical presidential election.” Gabbard is seeking $50 million in damages and an injunction banning the further publication of Clinton’s statements.
Gabbard, who supported Clinton’s Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders during the 2016 primaries, accused the former secretary of state of being “a cutthroat politician” who acted out of “malicious intent.”
Clinton, 72, claimed in October that the Hawaii Democrat was “a favorite of the Russians.” She also suggested that Republicans believe Gabbard could be persuaded to run as a third-party candidate, which could benefit President Trump in the general election.
“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,” Clinton said.
Gabbard, 38, has repeatedly said she would not run for president as an independent or third-party candidate and would support the eventual Democratic presidential nominee.
“Tulsi is not a Russian asset. No one — Russia or anyone else — controls her or her presidential campaign. Instead, Tulsi is a loyal American servant, declaring her allegiance to the United States of America both as a soldier and as a member of Congress,” the lawsuit said.
It continued, “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 argued.
Gabbard, a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard, is on the House Armed Services and Financial Services Committees. She was previously a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Homeland Security Committee.
Gabbard’s lawyers said Clinton has refused to retract or apologize for her comments and argued the remarks were made in retaliation for Gabbard supporting Sanders during the 2016 campaign. “Tulsi was told that the Clinton team would never forget this slight,” the lawsuit said.
