2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard said she filed a defamation lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to make sure she doesn’t “intimidate other patriotic Americans into silence.”
In a statement released a day after news of the lawsuit broke, Gabbard warned, “If Hillary Clinton and her allies can successfully destroy my reputation — even though I am a war veteran and a sitting member of Congress – then they can do it to anybody.”
She continued:
“In fact, that’s exactly the message Hillary and her powerful elite friends want to send you. Hillary Clinton and her allies want you to know that if you dare cross them, they will destroy your reputation as well.”
My statement on defamation lawsuit against Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/HJ4x6OqXCN #StandWithTulsi pic.twitter.com/WQChk5gLgy
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) January 23, 2020
“I will not allow this blatant effort to intimidate me or other patriotic Americans into silence to go unchallenged,” she said, adding, “This is why I filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton.”
Gabbard filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against Clinton for comments she made on the “Campaign HQ” podcast in October last year in which she called Gabbard a “Russian asset.”
During an appearance on the podcast, Clinton stated that Gabbard was “the favorite of the Russians,” and a “Russian asset.”
“I think they’ve 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.”
The lawsuit contends that those comments harmed Gabbard’s campaign and her reputation were harmed as a result of those comments.
“She harmed her political and personal rival’s reputation and ongoing Presidential campaign, and she started a damaging whisper campaign based on baseless, but vicious, untruth.”
Gabbard also described Clinton as a “cutthroat politician” who sought to get revenge on her for her decision to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.
“I will not stand quietly by as Hillary Clinton, or anyone else tries to smear my character and my loyalty and dedication to serving our country,” she said at a campaign event in New Hampshire.