Tulsi Gabbard takes legal action against Mitt Romney and Keith Olbermann
Gabbard has been an outspoken advocate for peace and has called on politicians to tone down their rhetoric against Russia. Those who disagreed with her calls for peace accused her of treason for 'working with Putin.'
Tulsi Gabbard, the former congresswoman for Hawaii and outspoken political commentator, is taking action against Sen. Mitt Romney and liberal warmonger Keith Olbermann for accusing her of “treasonous” activities among a host of other potentially defamatory comments for her anti-war stance.
In recent weeks, Gabbard has been an outspoken advocate for peace and has called on politicians and political influencers to tone down their rhetoric calling for an all-out war against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
In response, those who disagreed with Gabbard’s calls for peace accused her of treason for working with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Not one to take such accusations likely, Gabbard has demanded that the offending parties cease and desist or face potential litigation, the Daily Wire reported.
Gabbard, a U.S. war veteran and serving member of the armed forces as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Civil Affairs, announced on Wednesday that she and her attorney, Harmeet K. Dhillon have sent cease and desist letters to Romney and Olbermann over remarks made to damage her reputation, which she says are baseless claims.
“When powerful, influential people make baseless accusations of treason, a crime punishable by death, in order to intimidate, silence and censor those who speak the truth, it has a chilling effect on our democracy,” Gabbard said on Twitter. “This cannot go unchecked.”
When powerful, influential people make baseless accusations of treason, a crime punishable by death, in order to intimidate, silence and censor those who speak the truth, it has a chilling effect on our democracy. This cannot go unchecked. https://t.co/evoefpc0Yd
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) April 20, 2022
On March 13, Romney accused Gabbard of “parroting false Russian propaganda,” accusing her of telling “treasonous lies,” referring to remarks she made on Tucker Carlson’s show about U.S.-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine, which was covered by Rebel News.
Tulsi Gabbard is parroting false Russian propaganda. Her treasonous lies may well cost lives.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) March 13, 2022
As detailed by Rebel, U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland confirmed the existence of the facilities in a Senate hearing in March.
“Ukraine has [pause] biological research facilities, which in fact we are now quite concerned Russian troops, Russian forces, may be seeking to gain control of,” said Nuland.
In the attorney’s letter to Romney, the Utah senator was advised “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. And as explained below, your accusation that Representative Gabbard lied also has no basis in fact.”
“Your allegation that Representative Gabbard spoke ‘treasonous lies’ is clear-cut defamation,” Dhillon added.
“In her video, Representative Gabbard made the factual claim that there were American-funded biological laboratories in Ukraine,” Dhillon said. “The existence of biological laboratories in Ukraine is beyond dispute.”
Dhillon provided evidence for the claim.
In Dhillon’s letter to Olbermann, she noted that on March 14, “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.”
Olbermann replied to the liberal meme accounts' tweet to call Gabbard and Carlson “Russian assets.”
“They are Russian assets and there is a war,” wrote Olbermann. “There’s a case for detaining them militarily. Trials are a sign of good faith and patience on the part of democracy.”
The attorney informed the political pundit that he “acted with actual malice when you defamed Representative Gabbard.”
“Representative Gabbard’s loyalty to the United States is beyond reproach, and you either knew your description of her as a ‘Russian asset’ was false when you made it, or you acted in reckless disregard as to her allegiance to the United States,” wrote Dhillon.
She added that while the former Hawaii congresswoman “believes that free speech is a cornerstone of American democracy, your accusation that she is a ‘Russian asset’ is far outside of the bounds of free speech and civility. It is defamation.”
Gabbard’s legal representative says that she would prefer to settle the dispute out of court, providing both Olbermann and Romney until April 27 to respond to the legal threat. Dhillon added that Gabbard will “likely be forced to pursue litigation concerning this matter,” and that both individuals should preserve all evidence as it relates to the tweets in question as the law requires.
In other words, they shouldn’t delete their tweets unless they want to land themselves in worse trouble.
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