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Gephardt Sued! House Minority Leader Violated Civil Rights of Opponent in Election 2000 During campaign 2000, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt was running for his political life. William Federer, Gephardt¹s Republican opponent, was posing a serious challenge, and if Gephardt was to keep hold of his seat in Missouri’s Third Congressional District, something had to be done. Rather than relying on political acumen or the power of their ideas, however, a new JW lawsuit alleges Gephardt and his aides chose tactics that crossed the line from questionable to criminal. Gephardt and key campaign aides allegedly set up an assault of Mr. Federer in the heat of the campaign, falsely accused him of inciting the incident, and also orchestrated a series of break-ins at Mr. Federer¹s home, real estate office and campaign headquarters in order to intimidate Mr. Federer and his campaign staff, according to a new Judicial Watch lawsuit filed on May 21. The complaint alleges that a paid advisor to Gephardt’s campaign, James J. Larrew, was ordered by Gephardt to stalk and videotape Mr. Federer as he campaigned at the South County Days Parade the month before the 2000 election. Larrew then provoked a physical confrontation with Mr. Federer and filed a false report with the police saying that it was Mr. Federer who had started the incident. Furthermore, according to the complaint, Gephardt and his national political advisor, Joyce Aboussie, allegedly ordered campaign workers to break into Federer¹s home, real estate office and campaign headquarters, "in an effort to threaten and intimidate Mr. Federer and his primary supporters and to thereby unlawfully interfere with Mr. Federer¹s campaign for election to the U.S. Congress." The perpetrators of the break-ins not only stole financial and business records, but also tampered with Mr. Federer’s phones and computer systems. "Gephardt and his aides allegedly assaulted, conspired, and knowingly misused the judicial process to try to destroy his opponent," said JW Chairman Larry Klayman. "This cannot stand. Dick Gephardt will be held accountable to the law." Among the charges alleged in the complaint are assault, civil rights violations, abuse of process, and other civil wrongdoings.
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