Deep State GOP Senator Mitt Romney has until April 27 to settle a defamation claim from former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard or be sued for accusing Gabbard, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, of treason.
The settlement demand, which also included a cease-and-desist order to stop accusing Gabbard of treason, went to the four-time draft dodger yesterday.
Leftist loudmouth Keith Olbermann, who routinely spews communist lies to his gullible followers, received a similar letter. He accused Gabbard of being a Russian asset on the March 13 episode of The View, the ABC program on which a coven of harpies unbosom themselves of hysterical gibberish.
Romney’s Tweet
Romney’s troubles began when he unwisely called Gabbard, a patriot and proud servicewoman, a traitor. Romney tweeted the scurrilous lie in response to a video Gabbard posted on March 13 that discussed biolabs in Ukraine.
The raven-haired Hawaiian surfer had said Russia and Ukraine should declare a ceasefire to ensure the labs were not destroyed, and potential pathogens released.
Romney’s answer: That statement is “treasonous.” “Tulsi Gabbard is parroting false Russian propaganda,” he tweeted. “Her treasonous lies may well cost lives.”
Gabbard responded, and graciously did not mention that Mittens received four draft deferments to duck service in Vietnam.
Thus, the letter from Gabbard’s main attorney, Harmeet Dhillon.
“Your accusation that Representative Gabbard, a combat veteran and current military officer, has engaged in ‘treasonous’ activity is completely false, a fact of which you were well aware when you made your claim,” Dhillon wrote:
Your accusation that Representative Gabbard lied also has no basis in fact.…
Whether your tweet’s baseless accusations stemmed from Representative Gabbard’s March 13, 2022, video or have some other unknown genesis, they were malicious and could not be further from the truth. Representative Gabbard is loyal to the United States and its interests. Further, any suggestion that she supports Russia’s actions in Ukraine is unmoored from reality. Representative Gabbard has unequivocally condemned Vladimir Putin for this brutal attack on Ukraine. She has personally visited Ukraine and has great love, empathy, and sympathy for both the nation and its people.
Olbermann’s Lie
Olbermann tweeted his agreement with hosts Ana Navarro and nutcase Whoopi Goldberg, who said that opponents of U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine are Russian assets who must be investigated and arrested.
“On March 14, 2022, the Twitter account @LibWatchDog posted a video in which hosts of the View made outlandish statements suggesting that the Department of Justice should investigate Representative Gabbard, along with Fox News Host Tucker Carlson,” Dhillon wrote:
That same day, you replied to the tweet, stating, “They are Russian Assets and there is a war. There’s a case for detaining them militarily. Trials are a sign of good faith and patience on the part of democracy.…
A reasonable reader would only understand that you meant to convey that Representative Gabbard is a foreign operative of the Russian government.…
Your accusation that Representative Gabbard is a “Russian Asset” therefore conveys to your readers that Representative Gabbard is a foreign operative who is aiding the Russian government in its human intelligence efforts. Needless to say, this is completely false.
Apparently, Olbermann thought better of accusing a decorated U.S. Army officer of treason. He deleted the tweet.
The question is whether Gabbard can prevail given that she is a public figure.
The letter accused both men of acting “actual malice” and “reckless disregard of whether [the accusation] was false or not,” the legal standards by which public figures can prevail. But meeting those standards is extremely difficult.
Gabbard on Tucker Carlson
Gabbard discussed the letter on Fox talker Tucker Carlson’s program last night.
“I still serve in the U.S. Army reserves today. I’m a lieutenant colonel, and 19 years ago when I enlisted in the military, I took an oath to support and defend our Constitution,” she said:
If Mitt Romney had read the Constitution, he would know that treason, the crime that he’s accusing me of that is punishable by death, is so serious that our founders deemed it to be the only crime worthy of being defined in our constitution.
