Politics

NEW: Democrat Rep. In Hot Water Legally: ‘Actual Malice’

Published

4 days ago

April 4, 2025

A Democratic member of Congress has been hit with a multi-million dollar lawsuit by a widely respected journalist who accused her of libel after she labeled him a sexual predator.

The shocking claim was laid out by Matt Taibbi, the independent reporter best known for working with Elon Musk to release the Twitter Files, in court filings stating that Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) falsely accused him of being a “serial sexual harasser.”

Writing on Substack, Taibbi reported that Kamlager-Dove’s remarks were made during a recent House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing.

“There is not much a person like me can say to a member of Congress hiding behind the protections of the Speech and Debate clause of the Constitution,” Taibbi wrote.

“One can however respond to a member arrogant enough to repeat those claims on social media,” he continued. “I’ve now done so, in the form of a $10 million libel lawsuit filed today in a New Jersey federal court.”

A committee hearing on the “Censorship-Industrial Complex” devolved into criticism of Taibbi when Kamlager-Dove criticized Republicans for inviting him as their “star witness” in order to distract “from the dumpster fire this administration is pursuing.”

She noted that Taibbi did not respond to a request to defend himself at the hearing.

“After this, Republicans gave Matt Taibbi time to defend himself. It’s telling that he didn’t,” she said on X and Bluesky.

“These statements are demonstrably false and were made with actual malice—either with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for their truth,” Taibbi’s lawsuit reads.

“The allegations echo prior false claims that have been the subject of legal action and multiple public corrections, of which Defendant was undoubtedly aware, evidencing her actual malice.”

“Defendant’s decision to republish the statements on X and her website, outside her legislative duties, further demonstrates an intent to harm Plaintiff’s reputation in his home state and beyond, rather than a good-faith engagement in legislative debate,” the suit continues.

The Speech and Debate Clause prevents members of Congress from being prosecuted for essentially anything they say on the record during legislative proceedings, but Taibbi’s claim that their social media posts are fair game has precedent. In 2024, a Kansas City man sued Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-LA) and three Missouri Republicans who he claimed falsely accused him on social media of being an “illegal alien” who fired gunshots at the Super Bowl parade for the Chiefs.

According to the National Review, Kamlager-Dovce may have been referring to a satirical article Taibbi co-authored about Russia’s nightlife in the 1990s. Several of the women who were interviewed for the article have since confirmed Taibbi never sexually harassed them.

“Defendant either knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for their truth, ignoring prior legal action and public corrections debunking these allegations—corrections of which she was undoubtedly aware—and republishing the defamation on X, Bluesky and her website, outside the scope of her legislative duties, with intent to harm Plaintiff’s reputation,” the lawsuit asserts.