As we've said many times before, while we are certainly no experts on any of this, it seems like Abigail Spanberger has a lot of explaining to do about this defamation lawsuit.
See for yourselves:
🚨SPANBERGER'S LEGAL BATTLE
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
Did you know the Dem nominee for Virginia governor was called as a witness in a defamation lawsuit?
Did you know she nearly got sued for defamation, and physically ran away from the guy who claimed she defamed him?
This case is wild.
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Indeed, it is.
The case dates back to Nov. 3, 2022, when the Democratic Party of Virginia published a press release attacking @yestoyesli for spending time with Thomas Speciale, a retired Army intel officer and former U.S. Senate candidate.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
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Virginia Democrats are garbage.
But you knew that.
As you can see here on this archived version, the press release claimed Speciale "attacked the US Capitol" on Jan. 6 and suggested he "bloodied and beat law enforcement officers."
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
Speciale contests both claims, and says this press release defamed him.
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Like so many others on January 6th.
He sued, and a judge allowed the case to proceed to discovery. The judge found Speciale had indeed stated a defamation claim against the Democratic Party of Virginia, and so the case moved toward depositions.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
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Side note, but thanks to Tyler for numbering the posts in his thread.
Speciale later learned that the 2022 campaign to reelect Spanberger to the House of Representatives wrote the press release. In a March 2024 deposition, Gianni Snidle (ex-press secretary for the Democratic Party) confirmed that the campaign wrote the document.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
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Spanberger just barely won her election in 22, and it was, of course, at the end when a bunch of votes magically showed up. Similar to how she won in 2020.
*cough cough*
In an April 2024 deposition, Justin Chermol, press secretary for the 2022 Spanberger campaign, confirmed that he edited the press release draft and sent it to Snidle.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
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Oof.
Speciale filed another lawsuit against Chermol, Snidle, and Spanberger in October 2023. That's when things get very interesting.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
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Grab a snack.
Spanberger ended up getting dropped from that lawsuit, because Speciale failed to successfully serve her the documents.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
It's this case that leads to Spanberger running away from Speciale—into the rain.
🧵8/20
She literally RAN from him.
Darrell Smith tried to help Speciale serve Spanberger on Jan. 9, 2024.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
He described going to Spanberger's DC office and being told she wasn't available, then going to the DCCC where she apparently had a meeting.
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And she ran again.
"Spanberger... walked through the threshold... I turned around and made eye contact with her. She then immediately turned around, went through the first double doors, the second double doors, and she ran."😲
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
"She literally was running away by herself in the rain."
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As in physically running away.
The judge ruled that Speciale had failed to serve Spanberger, so he granted a motion to remove her from the second lawsuit.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
However...
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However again ...
Speciale still sought to depose Spanberger as a witness in the original lawsuit.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
Spanberger tried to avoid this. She submitted an affidavit that she "had no role in the writing or issuance" of the press release and claimed she never saw it.
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Of course, she did.
Yet the judge allowed Speciale to depose Spanberger in writing, asking questions about the case that she must answer under oath.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
He wrote 350 questions, and I was in court watching Friday as Speciale and the Democratic Party lawyer fought over each question.
🧵13/20
This is all very inconvenient for Spanberger.
We love it.
The Democratic Party's lawyers filed a motion for a protective order, claiming Speciale is aiming to "harass Spanberger through the legal process."
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
Speciale insists that he gave the DPV and Spanberger the opportunity to settle the case, but they're dragging it out.
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Yes, blame the victim. That always works for Democrats.
I reached out to the Democratic Party of Virginia, the Spanberger campaign, Chermol, Snidle, and others involved in this case, and all of them refused to comment.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
🧵15/20
Shocker.
The case involves “the Spanberger campaign drafting, editing and approving a press release which they sent to the Democratic Party...to publish,” Speciale told me. “They did this in a deliberate effort to conceal that the press release was from the Spanberger campaign.”
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
🧵16/20
Winner winner chicken dinner.
As for the Jan. 6 claims, he says, “The truth is the exact opposite—I was warning the government of possible violence at the National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI, and I was there trying to stop potential violence on January 6th.”
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
🧵17/20
As so many of them were.
So, did Spanberger not know anything about the press release?
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
Does this case reflect on the 2025 Spanberger for Governor campaign? (Two 2022 campaign staff allegedly involved are now working on the 2025 campaign)
Will Speciale win vindication in court?
🧵18/20
Man, we hope he wins in court.
In court, Speciale told the judge that he has not tried to publicize the case, which might explain why most media outlets seem not to know of its existence.
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025
A tremendous thanks to @WCdispatch_ for his help on this massive story — he helped me understand it.
🧵19/20
And a massive thanks for posting it so we can share it ...
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