A person that Rep. Nancy Mace accused of being a part of a gaggle of “predators” in a shocking Home ground speech is suing the South Carolina Republican for defamation.
The criticism, filed in federal court docket on Friday, units up a battle over the Structure’s Speech and Debate Clause, which shields lawmakers in opposition to lawsuits for issues they are saying and do as a part of their legislative work. Mace’s workplace cited the safety in a press launch about her ground remarks.
Brian Musgrave was one in all 4 males that Mace named within the February speech by which she made a collection of allegations of sexual abuse and voyeurism, naming Musgrave, her ex-fiancé, and two different South Carolina males. The entire males have denied wrongdoing.
“Now, it is with unbridled disgust that Brian Musgrave through this lawsuit is forced to utter the words: ‘I am not a rapist.’ ‘I am not a predator.’ ‘I am not a sex trafficker,’” the lawsuit states.
“Through this action, Brian Musgrave seeks to recover that which has been wrongfully taken from him – his good name and reputation,” it continues.
Mace claimed to have discovered a hidden digital camera on a property owned by her ex-fiancé and Musgrave that had intimate pictures of girls that have been taken with out their data or consent.
The criticism acknowledges Musgrave collectively owns the South Carolina condominium with the congresswoman’s ex-fiancé, who’s described as Musgrave’s longtime good friend. However the go well with says Musgrave didn’t place the digital camera, by no means had entry to it and was not current for any of what Mace has alleged.
Musgrave was not accused of probably the most severe offenses that Mace listed within the speech, comparable to being raped after having blacked out one night time and believing she was “purposefully incapacitated.”
However she listed Musgrave together with the opposite three males and their pictures on an indication she displayed on the Home ground that stated: “Predators.”
Filed in federal court docket in Charleston, S.C., the lawsuit names as defendants Mace and 5 unnamed people who find themselves alleged to have conspired along with her. The case was assigned to U.S. District Decide Richard Gergel, an appointee of former President Obama.
The lawsuit shall be a serious and unusual take a look at for the Speech and Debate protections given to lawmakers.
A press launch from Mace’s in regards to the speech on the time referenced that safety and defended the veracity of her allegations: “Any and all statements made by Members on the House Floor are quintessential ‘legislative acts,’ and protected by the Speech and Debate clause afforded under the Constitution of the United States. Her statements tonight are not conjecture, they are not allegations, they are facts based on information she uncovered and documents she accidentally discovered.”
Notably, Musgrave’s claims don’t deal with Mace’s remarks on the Home ground, as a substitute taking intention at a ready model she distributed to the press beforehand, her show of the poster exterior her congressional workplace and a collection of social media posts she made on X.
“While the speech and debate clause of the United States Constitution affords broad protection to members of Congress acting as part of its deliberative process, it does not transform the floor of Congress into a sanctuary for defamation, nor does it protect Congresswoman Mace’s extra-Congressional defamatory statements surrounding her speech,” the lawsuit states.
Mace’s congressional workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the lawsuit.
