Congresswoman and presidential hopeful, Tulsi Gabbard, is sick of Hillary Clinton’s shit, so she’s suing her. On Wednesday, Gabbard filed a lawsuit against Clinton for defamation, in response to Clinton’s suggestion back in October that Gabbard is a “Russian asset.” Politico reports that Gabbard claims to have suffered “actual damages” of at least $50 million dollars due to Clinton’s allegation.
From Politico:
In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Gabbard alleges that Clinton’s suggestion that she is favored by Russians is “retribution” for Gabbard backing Clinton’s rival Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary.
“Whether out of personal animus, political enmity, or fear of real change within a political party Clinton and her allies have long dominated,” the lawsuit states, “Clinton lied about her perceived rival Tulsi Gabbard.”
Clinton cryptically characterized the politician as a Russian asset on a podcast with former Obama adviser David Plouffe, telling him “I’m not making any predictions, but I think [the Russians have] 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.”
You may remember that Gabbard was not fucking cool with this:
While Clinton never mentioned Gabbard by name, Gabbard’s dubious record on Syria and her characterization of the Trump impeachment process as a partisan sham made it quite obvious who Clinton was referring to. Still, it’s one thing to have a wacky record and another to be groomed by the Russian government.
We’ll see where the next chapter of this drama goes. But so far, Clinton has had a hell of a week.
According to a new CNN poll, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is leading in national polling for the first time, besting former frontrunner Joe Biden.
From CNN:
Overall, 27% of registered voters who are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents back Sanders, while 24% favor Biden. The margin between the two is within the poll’s margin of sampling error, meaning there is no clear leader in this poll. Both, however, are significantly ahead of the rest of the field, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 14% and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 11%.
This is big news, but this shift hasn’t been reflected in other national polls yet. While Sanders supporters shouldn’t necessarily get too excited yet, this could hint at a sea change.
- President Trump very nonchalantly said he aims to cut social security, Medicaid, and Medicare by the end of the year. [CNBC]
- Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend are going to perform sets in Iowa in support of Bernie Sanders, which will definitely attract the dudes-I-had-crushes-on-in-2008 vote. [Pitchfork]
- In less pleasant Sanders news, a watchdog group has filed an FEC complaint against his political nonprofit, Our Revolution, claiming the organization violated campaign finance law. [AP]
- Senator Jim Risch took a little nappy nap during the impeachment trial, which, fair:
- In “that tracks” news: Mike Pence spoke at a church where the pastor blamed the devil for homosexuality. [Business Insider]
- The city of D.C. is suing the Trump organization! [Politico]
- Andrew Yang’s accuracy with an ax is terrifying:
- And uh…