Lobbyist Vicki Iseman, who was accused of having an inappropriate and potentially romantic relationship with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), has sued the New York Times, claiming defamation by the paper.
Iseman has sued the Times for $27 million in damages, filing in Richmond, Virginia’s federal district court. Times executive editor Bill Keller, Washington bureau chief Dean Baquet, and reporters James Rutenberg, Marilyn Thompson, and Stephen Labaton are also named as defendants in the suit.
Iseman claims that a Times story earlier this year that suggested McCain and Iseman had conducted an illicit romantic relationship, along with professional misconduct, roiled the presidential campaign and drew stiff rebukes from the McCain campaign.
“The defamatory statements, express and implied, that Ms. Iseman had a romantic relationship with Senator McCain are entirely false,” lawyers for Iseman wrote in the 36-page complaint.
Lawyers for Iseman also demanded a jury trial to hear their suit.