Clinton Says Gabbard Defamation Suit Is a Bid to Grab Headlines

(Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton asked a New York court to throw out a lawsuit by presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, who claims the former Secretary of State defamed her by saying the Hawaii Congresswoman was “a Russian asset” and “the favorite of the Russians.”

“This lawsuit -- which seeks $100 million in damages for a single passing remark made by Secretary Clinton in a 40-minute podcast interview about the 2020 election -- is an effort by Rep. Gabbard to silence her political critics while making political headlines,” Clinton said in papers filed Friday in Manhattan Federal Court.

Gabbard claims Clinton’s statements in an Oct. 17 appearance on the “Campaign HQ With David Plouffe” podcast were false and malicious and that they were “accepted as true by millions of Americans, including large numbers of voters in battleground presidential primary states.”

Gabbard is one of three remaining candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in a contest now dominated by the other two, former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. According to a RealClearPolitics polling average, Gabbard has 3% of the vote.

Clinton said her statements were opinion and are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The case is Gabbard v. Clinton, 20-cv-558, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Steve Stroth

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