Sen. Julie Slama files countersuit against Charles Herbster
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Sen. Julie Slama’s attorney announced Monday that they have filed a countersuit against gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster.
In the counterclaim, Slama denies “each and every” allegation contained in Herbster’s complaint.
On Friday, Herbster filed a lawsuit against Slama regarding the sexual assault allegations that he says slandered his image.
The lawsuit was aimed to restore “Herbster’s good name and reputation and to oppose the false claims made against him,” Herbster’s spokeswoman Emily Novotny said in a press release.
Seven other women also anonymously came forward to the Nebraska Examiner saying that Charles Herbster groped them.
Since the accusations have been made, three people have come forward saying that they were witnesses of the assaults or were directly informed of them right after they happened.
Slama’s attorney issued a statement regarding the countersuit.
In our statement Friday, we stated that Charles Herbster will be subject to the full scope of civil discovery if he proceeds with any legal attack against Senator Julie Slama. With our court filings today, we make good on that promise.
We have received and reviewed the lawsuit filed by Herbster against Senator Slama in the District Court of Johnson County, Nebraska. Although Herbster has stopped short of actually serving this lawsuit, and although it is defective in key respects, Senator Slama today filed an answer and counterclaim that refutes Herbster’s false allegations against her and claims damages for the sexual battery she suffered. Simultaneously, we have served notice to take Herbster’s videotaped deposition next Friday, May 6th, at the Johnson County Courthouse. These steps will immediately preserve Senator Slama’s legal rights and guarantee that Herbster’s pending lawsuit against her includes her response and counterclaim.
We will not permit Charles Herbster to file a frivolous, bad faith lawsuit that purports to cast doubt on Senator Slama’s account of her sexual assault, use his national media megaphone to herald the existence of that lawsuit for his own gain, but then take no steps to actually serve it and subject himself to the legal accountability such service would trigger.
We will show this lawsuit for what it is: a frivolous and bad faith attempt to bully a sexual assault victim into silence. Charles Herbster chose to subject himself to Nebraska’s judicial system, and Senator Slama will hold him to that choice.
