Kim Klacik suing Candace Owens for $20M
Thomas McDonald
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Former Maryland Republican congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik filed a defamation suit against conservative commentator Candace Owens for $20 million in damages.
The suit stems from an Instagram video Owens posted in June accusing Klacik of committing campaign fraud, money laundering, using drugs, and was a “madame” of a strip club, according to documents filed in the Baltimore County Circuit Court.
Klacik claims she lost a book deal, had politicians cancel various fundraising appearances with her, and even lost a contract with a “nationally recognized vendor” after Owens took to Instagram live for 44 minutes claiming Klacik’s charity Potential Me was illegitimate. Owens also claimed Klacik was a stripper at a club owned by her husband and that she misused campaign funds, according to the lawsuit.
Klacik became a prominent name in GOP politics after former President Donald Trump shared one of her campaign videos where she walked the streets of Baltimore and attacked democrats urging black voters that they do not need to vote democrat. She ran unsuccessfully in Marylands 7th district against Democrat Kweise Mfume in 2020.
Klacik was also a featured speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2020.
The lawsuit alleges Owens “continues to support and encourage the harassment” of Klacik by not deleting the allegedly defamatory video. Owens says she is “not an investigative journalist” in the video and “could not confirm” any of the criminal allegations she made against Klacik including, “money laundering, tax fraud, and campaign fraud.” Owens also claimed Klacik paid vendors to “move money off the books” and worked to recruit strippers for a club that her husband owns, according to court documents.
“Baseless character assassination has no place in political dialogue‚” Jacob Frenkel, attorney for Klacik, said in a statement. “The defendant chose to use her huge social media platform to attack a respected Baltimore political figure; we are using the proper forum, the power of the courts, to respond. The detail in Ms. Klacik’s lawsuit speaks for itself,” Frenkel added.
“She has falsely accused me, private citizens & businesses of federal crimes, so I would like this to play out in court rather [than] social media,” Klacik tweeted on June 24.