Herbster files defamation lawsuit against Slama over assault allegations | National News
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Charles W. Herbster, a businessman and a front-runner for the Republican nomination to be Nebraska’s next governor, filed a lawsuit Friday against state Sen. Julie Slama after she, along with seven other women, accused him last week of groping them.
Herbster’s nine-page lawsuit, which was filed in Johnson County District Court in Southeast Nebraska, accuses Slama of defamation by publicizing “false claims” against Herbster less than one month before the May 10 primary.
Herbster
“As set forth in my lawsuit, the false accusations and attacks on my character are part of a greater scheme calculated to try and defeat my candidacy,” Herbster said in a statement. “I will not stop fighting until the truth is told and my name is cleared.”
In a statement Friday evening, Slama’s attorney, Dave Lopez, said: “Sen. Slama has not been served with any such lawsuit.” He added that if and when Slama is served with a lawsuit, they will review it and respond “in due course.”
“To be sure, any claim that calls into question Sen. Slama’s well-corroborated account of her sexual assault by Charles Herbster would be categorically without merit and frivolous,” Lopez said. “Sen. Slama will vigorously defend herself against any such lawsuit. Charles Herbster will be subject to the full scope of civil discovery if he proceeds with any legal attack against Sen. Slama.”
In a story published April 14, the Nebraska Examiner reported that Herbster reached up Slama’s dress without her consent and touched her inappropriately at the Douglas County Republican Party’s 2019 Elephant Remembers dinner. Slama confirmed the Examiner’s reporting in a statement that same day.
In total, the online news site reported allegations from eight women who said Herbster, a Republican megadonor and CEO of Conklin Co., touched them inappropriately. The Omaha World-Herald has not independently corroborated those seven other accounts.
The women were between their late teens and mid-20s at the time, according to the Examiner, and all the incidents occurred between 2017 and this year.
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In his lawsuit, the gubernatorial candidate accused Slama of having “made a false and defamatory statement” when she confirmed to the Examiner that Herbster touched her inappropriately at the dinner.
His lawsuit states Slama “repeated her false and defamatory statement” in an interview with radio station KFAB. Herbster claims that media coverage of Slama’s statements have brought him “disrepute and damage to his reputation.”
Herbster sought to tie Slama’s claims to her political connections to Gov. Pete Ricketts and endorsement of Herbster’s primary opponent Jim Pillen, a Columbus hog producer and University of Nebraska regent.
Herbster’s lawsuit notes that Slama served as press secretary for Ricketts’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign, and that she was appointed by Ricketts to fill the District 1 legislative seat.
Slama, who won a bitterly contested race to keep her seat in 2020, has said she was not seeking any gain in coming forward.
“I have nothing to gain here,” she said in the KFAB interview. “I have — if he wins — I have to work with him for two to six years. And my only interest in this is protecting this from happening to other young women, because they don’t deserve it.”
Similarly, Ricketts has called Herbster’s assertion “ridiculous,” and the Pillen campaign has said it was not behind the Examiner’s story.
The allegations triggered a political uproar in Nebraska, with prominent politicians — including every woman serving in the Legislature — condemning Herbster and calling him unfit to serve.
Earlier this week, a Herbster campaign official told the World-Herald that the campaign was also preparing to file a lawsuit against the Examiner. A Herbster spokesperson did not respond to questions Friday regarding a potential lawsuit involving the Examiner.
The news outlet has said it stands by its reporting.
Speaking generally, Eric Berger, a law professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said lawsuits filed by public figures claiming defamation have “a high bar” to clear in order to succeed.
“In this country … it’s very difficult for a public figure or public official to recover damages for defamatory statements,” he said.
In his lawsuit against Slama, Herbster is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, as well as money for fees and costs.
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