PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick filed a lawsuit against former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness for libel and defamation.
Cherfilus-McCormick filed the complaint seeking more than $1 million in damages on Wednesday in Broward County court accusing Holness of “damaging her reputation and inflicting great emotional harm.”
“We don’t need to embezzle $6 million in taxpayer dollars to buy a seat in Congress. Our opponent may think she can do that. (She probably needs to do so to win),” Holeness’s aide Justin Porter allegedly wrote.
Last November, Cherfilus-McCormick beat Holness in the Democratic primary to replace the late Alcee Hastings.
The lawsuit alleges that “the defamatory” statements by Porter and Holness were “made knowing their falsity but nonetheless done with an intent to harm and injure” Cherfilus-McCormick “personally and in her capacities as a member of Congress, a businesswoman, and a lawyer.”
Holness could not be reached for comment.