Rep. Eric Swalwell thinks law clerk guessed to have leaked Roe v. Wade draft has a strong defamation case

Under Supreme Ct law, as a public figure I take a lot of defamatory attacks b/c bar is too high to sue. Ms. Deutsch is not a public figure and would likely have a strong defamation case against @willchamberlain. Republicans are bullies. But they ALWAYS back down when challenged. https://t.co/6sKPfdKNOX

— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) May 4, 2022

It’s a long thread, but the gist of it is that this law clerk is staunchly pro-choice and her husband is a journalist who used to work with the reporter who received the leak.

You're not scaring anyone

but you are getting some of us pretty excited pic.twitter.com/NKp8Bd8SdK

— Ron Coleman (@RonColeman) May 4, 2022

Again @BadLegalTakes

— Darth Crypto – Elon’s Awakening Brought me Back! (@ToolFree2point0) May 4, 2022

This isn’t defamation and you boinked a spy for the communist Chinese government. https://t.co/fATSOtgvyo

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 4, 2022

Your as lousy at being a lawyer as you are at not disgracing yourself. https://t.co/Txi6S53eGD

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) May 4, 2022

Please hold hearings on the source of the leak, which Congress has an interest in doing as this could have been a hack or a spying operation by Russia.

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 4, 2022

This is not slander. He states specifically this is conjecture. But she won’t sue because that would give him access to her emails and her phone records and every phone and computer she has access to through discovery.

— Micah Lucas (@commanderhttc) May 4, 2022

Well if it’s true she’ll have zero defense. I say let’s get to discovery already

— Hans (@HansDancin) May 4, 2022

Uhm. Didn’t you just make her a public figure by saying this

— Sethman (@smt813) May 4, 2022

Will must be over the target.

— Spaeth82 (@milehighwing) May 4, 2022

You either haven’t read the thread or have no idea what the standard is for defamation. I am betting on both.

— ElGuapo (@davidrlane1024) May 4, 2022

To prove prima facie defamation, a plaintiff must show four things: 1) a false statement purporting to be fact…given he declares it’s his “opinion” that Elizabeth “likely” leaked the document would make it unlikely to rise to defamation. And, we don’t even know if it’s false.

— Loren Smith (@LoRay_Smith) May 4, 2022

He stated an opinion. Opinions aren't defamation and are protected speech.

— Howard Notelling (@BluegrassPundit) May 4, 2022

So she has denied it? Where?

— @ (@ElonsHouseNow) May 4, 2022

You slept with a spy from communist China. Shut up.

— Jacob Airey (@realJacobAirey) May 4, 2022

What is Supreme Court law, anyway?

Related:

Eric Swalwell says that when the GOP’s done banning abortion, ‘they want to ban interracial marriage,’ too https://t.co/upemWTSC4f

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 3, 2022