The chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann is accused of defaming a top aid to a rival Republican during last year's 3rd District race.
In a lawsuit filed in Nashville this week, Republican activist Mark Winslow charges that John Bruce "Chip" Saltsman, then campaign manager for the Chattanooga Republican, improperly obtained Winlow's personnel files. Winslow claims Saltsman made defamatory statements about him with "reckless disregard" for the truth.
Winslow, former chief of staff in the Tennessee Republican Party and media director for Robin Smith's 3rd District campaign, is seeking $500,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages from Saltsman.
Fleischmann beat Smith, also of Chattanooga, in the August GOP primary. He was elected in November and named Saltsman his chief of staff earlier this month.
Saltsman, who was chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party before Smith, is accused in the 15-page lawsuit of improperly obtaining confidential employment information about Winslow from the current party chairman, Chris Devaney.
Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.