Gabbard drops defamation lawsuit against Clinton

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) Wednesday dropped a defamation lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, ending a brief legal battle over allegations that Gabbard was being supported by Russia. 

The lawsuit was filed after Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said in January that Gabbard, who at the time was a 2020 White House contender, was being groomed by Moscow to wage a third-party bid and was a “Russian asset.” 

Gabbard’s legal team said on Wednesday that Gabbard was confident the suit had “merit” but that her focus is needed elsewhere during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Plaintiffs Tulsi Gabbard and Tulsi Now, Inc. dismiss this action,” Gabbard’s lawyers, Dan Terzian and Janice Roven, said in a court filing. “While they remain certain of the action's legal merit, they are just as certain that this new COVID and post-COVID world require them to focus their time and attention on other priorities, including defeating Donald Trump in 2020, rather than righting the wrongs here.”

The lawsuit accused Clinton of having “no basis for making her false assertions” and said that Gabbard was owed damages “estimated to exceed $50 million.”

Gabbard accused Clinton of holding a grudge over the Hawaii lawmaker's 2016 endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Clinton’s then-rival in the Democratic presidential primary.

"This was a publicity stunt through and through, and this filing makes that clear," Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Clinton, told CNN in a statement, including the phrase "good riddance" in Russian. 

Gabbard used the suit in an attempt to gin up attention for her struggling White House bid and boost support ahead of the Iowa caucuses, but she barely registered in the Hawkeye State and her campaign fizzled out. She ultimately dropped out of the race in March and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, who is now the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee.