Chuck FleischmannSix months after Chuck Fleischmann beat Robin Smith in the 3rd District GOP primary and was elected to Congress, the fight has moved to a Nashville courtroom.
A former aide to Smith is accusing Fleischmann’s chief of staff of defamation, slander and invasion of privacy in a lawsuit that also accuses Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney of failing to honor a confidential employment agreement.
In a lawsuit filed in Davidson County Circuit Court, Republican activist Mark Winslow is suing Chip Saltsman for $750,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
Saltsman declined to comment Wednesday.
Winslow was the state GOP’s chief of staff for nearly two years and was Smith’s media director last year in the District 3 race. Winslow claims Saltsman, who ran Fleischmann’s campaign and now heads his Washington, D.C., staff, lied about a severance payment made to Winslow by the Tennessee Republican Party in 2009.