DICK GEPHARDT SUED FOR ASSAULT, CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, ABUSE OF PROCESS
LAWSUIT ALLEGES GEPHARDT, CAMPAIGN STAFF CONSPIRACY TO HARM CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN OPPONENT
LAWSUIT FILED ON BEHALF OF BILL FEDERER, WHO RAN FOR GEPHARDT’S HOUSE SEAT IN 2000
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, has just filed a lawsuit against Congressman Richard Gephardt alleging assault, civil rights violations, abuse of process, and other civil wrongs. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Bill Federer, who ran for (and nearly won) election to Gephardt’s Missouri congressional seat in 2000. The lawsuit alleges that Gephardt and key campaign aides set up an assault of Federer in the midst of the campaign, and then manufactured a criminal charge against him. The lawsuit was filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri.
The lawsuit also names Gephardt 2000 campaign aides Joyce A. Aboussie, James J. Larrew as defendants. The lawsuit alleges Aboussie is Gephardt’s national political advisor and a paid member of Defendant Gephardt’s congressional staff, currently earning approximately $130,000 per year in that capacity. Aboussie is alleged to have acted as Gephardt’s principal political advisor during Defendant Gephardt’s 2000 campaign for reelection to the congressional seat for Missouri’s Third Congressional District. Larrew is alleged to be a paid member of Gephardt’s congressional campaign and allegedly stalked Mr. Federer during a parade a month before the 2000 election, assaulted him, and then falsely accused Federer of wrongdoing (in concert with Gephardt, Aboussie and others). The lawsuit also alleges trespass, on information and belief, by Gephardt and his campaign aides, as Federer’s home and offices were broken into several times during the campaign.
A copy of the lawsuit is available by clicking here.
“Dick Gephardt has every right to run for office and advocate his positions. Yet, Gephardt obviously believed those rights did not extend to his opponent Bill Federer. So rather than run a campaign based on law, Gephardt and his aides allegedly assaulted, conspired, and knowingly misused the judicial process to try to destroy his opponent. This can not stand and Dick Gephardt will be held accountable to the law,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.
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