One of many Republicans’ star witnesses within the impeachment hearings of Joe Biden is suing Home Democrat Jamie Raskin for $20m for alleged defamatory feedback that “intentionally and maliciously” besmirched his character.
Tony Bobulinski, a former enterprise affiliate of the president’s son Hunter Biden, was known as by Home Republicans to testify towards the Bidens as a part of their probe into the household’s enterprise dealings, in search of to question the president.
Mr Raskin has been an outspoken critic of the impeachment proceedings, together with writing to Mr Bobulinski’s lawyer in February to say that his consumer’s interview was “chaotic to the purpose of burlesque”.
“Mr. Bobulinski didn’t supply any proof of wrongdoing by President Biden,” Raskin stated in his letter. “He additionally didn’t present any proof that President Biden was concerned in his household’s enterprise dealings.”
A felony grievance seen by The Day by day Beast pointed to social media posts by Mr Raskin, during which he sought to discredit Mr Bobulinski’s testimony to the Home Oversight Committee, whereas additionally showing to say he had hyperlinks to Russian or Chinese language brokers.
The lawsuit claims all of those had been “false statements”, additionally pointing to an interview Mr Raskin had on MSNBC, which he shared on social media “republishing his false statements to a wholly new viewers.”
Mr Bobulinski’s attorneys additionally level to different situations of the Democrat reposting statements from the Oversight Committee Democrats’ X web page, together with one during which he known as the witness “Donald Trump’s political pawn”.
“Then, on March 6, 2024, Defendant issued a press release that Home Oversight Democrats posted on X, and Defendant reposted, during which he known as Mr. Bobulinski ‘a bitterly pissed off would-be enterprise associate who collaborated with the Trump marketing campaign,’” the lawsuit says, The Day by day Beast reported.
Mr Bobulinski’s workforce argues that he has nothing to do with the Trump marketing campaign and he has by no means lied to Congress.
On 20 March, Mr Bobulinski stated that it was, in truth, Mr Raskin and fellow congressman Dan Goldman who had been mendacity by sharing a number of social media posts focusing on him.
This week’s submitting continues these claims, saying that Mr Raskin “has been working in tag-team vogue with fellow Oversight Committee member, Rep. Dan Goldman, in a social media blitz of defamatory posts intentionally and maliciously besmirching the character of Mr. Bobulinski.”
The lawsuit is one in all a number of reportedly filed by Mr Bobulinski in current months. He’s suing former Trump White Home aide Cassidy Hutchinson for $10m for mentioning his assembly with the previous president’s Chief of Workers Mark Meadows in 2020 in her e book.
He’s additionally asking for $30m in a case towards Fox Information pundit Jessica Tarlov, who issued a correction moderately than an apology over claims she made on air {that a} Trump-associated political motion committee had paid for his authorized charges. Within the case towards Mr Raskin, Mr Bobulinski is suing for $20m.
The Unbiased has reached out to Mr Rakin and Mr Bobulinski for remark.