Tulsi Gabbard’s defamation lawsuit against failed two-time presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has as good a chance of winning in court as the Hawaii congresswoman has of becoming the 2020 Democratic nominee. Which is to say, no chance at all.
But, hey — if nothing else, that lawsuit may at least win Gabbard a few more supporters ahead of the 2020 Iowa caucuses. In fact, it’s almost as if that had been the point all along.
The complaint, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, contains several brutal one-liners, including, “Tulsi Gabbard is running for President of the United States, a position Clinton has long coveted, but has not been able to attain.”
Gabbard’s lawsuit stems from an October 2019 podcast interview wherein Clinton appeared to accuse the congresswoman of being a “Russian asset.”
Clinton alleged first that Republicans are looking at an unnamed 2020 Democratic contestant who they believe may be persuaded to run as a third-party candidate. The former secretary of state explained that a Democratic third-party candidate would draw votes away from the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, all to President Trump’s benefit.
“She is a favorite of the Russians,” Clinton said without referring to Gabbard by name. “They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.”
“That’s assuming [2016 Green Party nominee] Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she’s also a Russian asset,” Clinton added. “Yeah, she’s a Russian asset. Totally. They know they can’t win without a third-party candidate.”
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill was asked later whether his employer was referring specifically to Gabbard when she said there is a 2020 Democratic candidate who is a “favorite of the Russians,” assuming Stein, who is “also a Russian asset,” will “give it up.” He answered, “If the nesting doll fits.”
“This is not some outlandish claim,” he added. “This is reality. If the Russian propaganda machine, both their state media and their bot and troll operations, is backing a candidate aligned with their interests, that is just a reality, it is not speculation.”
Following the October interview, Gabbard responded by calling Clinton the “queen of the warmongers” and the “embodiment of corruption.”
Since Clinton’s interview, the Hawaii representative has “suffered significant actual damages, personally and professionally, that are estimated to exceed $50 million” as a direct consequence of the former secretary of state’s comments, Gabbard’s complaint alleges. The lawsuit is also careful to include the context of Clinton’s remarks, which is always crucial in a defamation claim, arguing that the remarks made in October “were not statements by someone who is well-known to speak in hyperbole.”
“The complaint seeks compensatory damages and an injunction prohibiting the further publication of Clinton’s defamatory statements,” the congresswoman’s 2020 campaign team announced Wednesday in a statement.
Even if Clinton is guilty of what the complaint alleges, and she surely is, there is very little chance Gabbard’s lawsuit ends on a victorious note for the congresswoman. As Ron Nehring, former senior adviser to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, put it Wednesday, “Lawsuits between political figures are commonly publicity stunts initiated by the more desperate side. Reporters should consider this before falling for it, especially considering these suits go nowhere. Just like this one will.”
