Tony Bobulinski sues Jessica Tarlov over on-air comments

Impeachment witness Tony Bobulinski on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Fox News's Jessica Tarlov, claiming she had failed to adequately correct false and defamatory claims that a Trump-aligned Super PAC was paying his legal fees.

"Today I filed a lawsuit against Ms. Jessica Tarlov of Fox News for defamation. Although I am seeking compensatory, special, and punitive damages from her for the damage her public remarks inflicted on my personal and professional reputation, this is not about money," Bobulinski said in a statement. "This is about the truth, for which I have been fighting for four years. It is important for media personalities like Ms. Tarlov to understand that lies have consequences."

"I have consistently told the truth to the American people about the deep corruption of the Biden family and will continue to do, and I have paid my legal expenses arising from my decision to come forward out of my own pocket," he continued. "I will donate every penny I may be awarded in this suit to a children’s hospital and to support our military Veterans. Ms. Tarlov refused to apologize and sincerely correct the record. I look forward to holding her accountable in a court of law and to continuing to bring the truth to the American people."

"On March 20, 2024, Defendant Jessica Tarlov, a co-host on Fox News’ show, The Five, lied about Anthony Bobulinski and Stefan Passantino, saying that Mr. Bobulinski’s legal fees are being paid by a Trump Super PAC as recently as January 2024," the suit stated. "Ms. Tarlov said this in response to Mr. Passantino’s representation of Mr. Bobulinski during his appearance before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability earlier that day."

"Ms. Tarlov lied to achieve media headlines and ratings and to serve her political agenda by deliberately besmirching the character of Messrs. Bobulinski and Passantino," it further claimed. "The assertion was unequivocally false and defamatory, and Plaintiffs demanded a complete retraction and apology on March 21, 2024, and again on March 22, 2024. Petulantly, Ms. Tarlov failed to retract and apologize, as is more fully addressed in this Complaint. Accordingly, Messrs. Bobulinski and Mr. Passantino seek to hold Defendant accountable for her malicious and knowing lies."

Tarlov, last week, stated that "Tony Bobulinski’s lawyer’s fees have been paid by a Trump superPAC—that’s as recent as January. Do you think that a guy who's invested in how much better he wants the United States to be and really getting to the bottom of this, would be taking money from the guy who extorted the Ukrainians to get dirt on the Bidens?"

Bobulinski previously demanded a retraction and Tarlov subsequently stated that "[w]hat was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinski’s legal fees and he denies that they were."

But Bobulinski took issue with her follow up statement, contending that her choice of words had left the false impression that the alleged payments were a proven fact, when they were merely the claims of a Democratic representative.

"Specifically, she intended to convey the belief that it was a matter of determined fact resulting from the hearing, not merely part of a theatrical and nonsensical performance by a democrat representative who also sought to attack Plaintiffs as the source of the evidence, rather than address the evidence presented during the hearing, that Mr. Bobulinski’s legal fees were being paid for by a Trump Super PAC and that Mr. Passantino’s law firm secretly accepted funds from any source other than Mr. Bobulinski for his representation," the suit contended.

A spokesperson for Fox News issued the following statement:

Jessica Tarlov’s March 21st statements were accurate and made clear that she was not aware of anything to indicate that payments from a Trump PAC to Elections, LLC were made in connection with Tony Bobulinski’s legal fees. We stand by our decision to not issue any further corrections and will vigorously defend against these inaccurate claims.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.