The secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, has spent $500,000 defending himself in court. He says the plaintiff will only settle if he effectively endorses a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2020 election.
The plaintiff in the case, Jacki Pick, a Texas-based Republican podcast host who guided the lawmakers through the 30-minute presentation, sued Mr. Raffensperger for defamation over how he described the video in his book, “Integrity Counts.” He wrote that the video “had been deceptively sliced and edited.” Ms. Pick, who is married to the Texas multimillionaire and megadonor Doug Deason, claims she was defamed, even though Mr. Raffensperger’s book never mentioned her by name.