Quentin Young with local Colorado Newsline reports that a North Carolina political activist is officially prepared to file a lawsuit against highly controversial alt-Right CO House Rep. Lauren Boebert, according to confirmation from the activist himself.
Last year David Wheeler, the president of the American Muckrakers political action committee (PAC), lodged a lawsuit against Boebert in a North Carolina court for defamation and malicious prosecution. The case was ultimately dismissed by the judge in January of this year, under the ruling that the proper venue for the case was Boebert’s state of Colorado.
Wheeler is now reportedly not only taking the judge’s advice of a change of venue, as he plans to bring a very similar lawsuit against the GOP congresswoman in her own state but now confirms that he plans to bump things up a notch by taking the case to a federal court.
The PAC president told the local CO publication that he intends to depose Boebert over her involvement in the infamous, deadly January 6th Capitol insurrection, as well as other matters related to his case.
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“It would certainly be in the public interest to be able to see that videotape,” Wheeler said. He also noted that the lawsuit may eventually be expanded to include the likes of Fox News and host Sean Hannity as additional defendants.
Colorado Newsline reports:
American Muckrakers is widely credited with damaging the electoral prospects of former Republican U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina after Muckrakers released unflattering video of the congressman, who lost his reelection bid after a primary defeat. The political action committee later turned its attention to Boebert and started publishing information about her with the explicit intention of spoiling her reelection effort.
Boebert spokesperson Ben Stout declined to comment for this story, but he referred Newsline to a CNN article last year that debunked many of Muckrakers’ claims, and he noted that Wheeler was already unsuccessful in the North Carolina case.
Last year, Wheeler and Muckrakers published information they said was gathered from sources close to Boebert, though some of the claims lacked corroborating evidence. They announced that sources revealed personal information about Boebert that appeared to run counter to her political stance against abortion, among other allegations. In subsequent statements and on media appearances, including on Hannity’s show, Boebert accused Wheeler and Muckrakers of publishing ‘false statements knowing they were completely fabricated,’ characterized the statements as ‘defamation,’ and said she was ‘moving forward with a lawsuit.’
A lawsuit from Boebert never came. But Wheeler’s did. In the North Carolina defamation case, Wheeler said donations to the Muckrakers PAC went into free fall, and his own income, which came solely from Muckrakers, took a huge hit. He also said Boebert engaged in false prosecution after she filed for a temporary protective order against Wheeler and indicated in court documents that he engaged in ‘physical and verbal threats’ against her — allegations he denies. A court in August rejected Boebert’s request for a protection order.
Though some of American Muckrakers’ claims about Boebert turned out to be false, Wheeler stands by the main components of its case against the congresswoman.
He noted that the judge in North Carolina dismissed the case only on the question of jurisdiction.”
You can read Newsline’s full report on the impending lawsuit here.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
